Who Is De La Soul?
Signed to Tommy Boy Records, De La Soul wove together a tapestry of words and beats transcending borders and language barriers. From Portuguese to Urdu, Ukrainian to Tamil, Swedish to Serbian, their music spoke a universal language that resonated with listeners worldwide, much like the influential run of artists like Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and N.W.A.
What’s the Story Behind “The Magic Number”?
As the title suggests, the song borrows from "Three Is a Magic Number" by Bob Dorough, part of a segment of Schoolhouse Rock.
At the heart of "The Magic Number" is the brilliance of Posdnuos, Trugoy, and Maseo, whose synergy and wordplay defied conventions.
With Prince Paul at the helm of production, the track is a testament to their collective genius.
Their homage to Bob Dorough's classic "Three is a Magic Number" reverberates with an enchanting groove, transforming the mundane into the extraordinary. It celebrates life's inherent rhythms, where language boundaries dissolve and cultures intertwine like an intricate tapestry, leaving listeners spellbound.
The De La Soul trio told Uncut the story of the song:
Posdnuos: "We came up with 'The Magic Number' working in Mase's basement. We took the main sample from (Bob Dorough's) 'Three Is A Magic Number' on Multiplication Rock, then took Double Dee & Steinski's 'Lesson 3' for the drums."
"We sampled them at my mother's house on this little keyboard we had, a Casio SK1,” Maseo said. “It didn't even have an input on it so you could get a clear sample, you just had to put it right next to the speaker. So that's how we were doing pre-production then, before we even knew what pre-production meant. I finally played (producer) Prince Paul things we had been working on a four-track, dubbing cassettes and that. Paul was excited by what he heard, he was just as excited as I was. He was like, 'Man, I gotta meet with your guys, I can't make no promises, but we could definitely go in the studio and clean all of this up and put all of this together. I'm gonna do my best to shop for a record deal for you guys."
“The Magic Number” Today
Spiderman: No Way Home
As De La Soul continued to fight to have their catalog on streaming, a big-budget film introduced their work — in this case, “The Magic Number” to a whole new audience. Prominently placed during the end credits of Spiderman: No Way Home.
2023: “The Magic Number” Hits Streaming Platforms
When De La’s catalog, from their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising to the beloved De La Soul Is Dead, finally hit streaming services like Spotify in March of this year, they ran up to 12.9 million streams during that first week.
As for Three Feet, in addition to its top 10 re-entries on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it debuted at No. 4 on the Top Rap Albums chart, which began in 2004, and re-entered at No. 15 on the all-genre Billboard 200 for its 20th total week on the survey.
