De La Soul Middle period What happened in the middle period? The group's third studio release, 1993's Buhloone Mindstate, was it successful? The album was a critical success, but it was the biggest commercial failure for the group at the time of its release. why was it a fauilure? Many publications, such as Rolling Stone, have listed this album as one of the best hip hop albums of all time. did they win any awards? it was the biggest commercial failure for the group did they produce any other music? In 1994, 500 copies of a promotional EP called Clear Lake Audiotorium were released on clear vinyl and CD. did they tour? I don't know. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? The album did provide a launching pad for future star rapper and actor Mos Def, who appeared on what did he appear on? the track "Big Brother Beat". did they help anyone else? The album also featured collaborations with Common, Truth Enola, and the Jazzyfatnastees. what was their record label? produced by Prince Paul,
how much money did they make?
how much money did De La Soul make?
The group's third studio release, 1993's Buhloone Mindstate, saw the group evolve a new sound as they continued to grow stylistically and musically. There were several moments on the album which proved the band had matured. "I Be Blowin'" was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by Maceo Parker. The introspective "I Am I Be" showed De La Soul at their most self-referential to date with subject matter about Pos' daughter Ayana Monet as well as his grandmother. "Long Island Wildin'" was a collaboration with Japanese hip hop artists Kan Takagi (Major Force) and trio Scha Dara Parr (SDP). The album's first single, "Breakadawn", used a sample of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" and Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm". De La Soul collaborated for the first time with Gang Starr's Guru on "Patti Dooke", female MC Shortie No Mas, a cousin of Posdnuos, was prominent on many tracks on the album, showcased particularly "In The Woods". The album ended with an old school Biz Markie collaboration called "Stone Age". Missing from vocal duties is Mase, whose voice can only be heard on "Area" in a break near the end of the track. Also rarely featured is his scratching which was heard often on previous albums, with only "In the Woods" showcasing his talent in that area. The album was a critical success, but it was the biggest commercial failure for the group at the time of its release. Many publications, such as Rolling Stone, have listed this album as one of the best hip hop albums of all time.  In 1994, 500 copies of a promotional EP called Clear Lake Audiotorium were released on clear vinyl and CD. The 6 track EP contained edited versions of tracks off of Buhloone Mindstate but also featured the tracks "Sh.Fe.MC's" (Shocking Female MC's) which was a collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest, and Stix & Stonz which featured old-school hip hop artists Grandmaster Caz, Tito of Fearless Four, Whipper Whip, LA Sunshine and Superstar. The EP was widely bootlegged afterwards.  Stakes Is High (1996) was the first album not produced by Prince Paul, with overall production credits given solely to the trio. Although it was met with poor sales, it has been critically lauded for its music, lyricism, and its overall message concerning the artistic decline rap music began to face in the mid-90s. The title track and first single, produced by J Dilla, was not a hit, but the album's second single, "Itzsoweezee (HOT)", with only Dave on vocals, did fare better due to its creative music video. The album spawned a third single "4 More", featuring Zhane which peaked at #52 in the UK. The album did provide a launching pad for future star rapper and actor Mos Def, who appeared on the track "Big Brother Beat". The album also featured collaborations with Common, Truth Enola, and the Jazzyfatnastees. CANNOTANSWER
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De La Soul () are an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. The members are Posdnuos, Trugoy, and Maseo. The three formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'". With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the band's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, has been called "a hip hop masterpiece."

The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, with subsequent ones selling progressively less, despite receiving high praise from critics. They were influential in the early stages of rapper/actor Mos Def's career, and are a core part of the Spitkicker collective. They are the second longest standing Native Tongues group, after the Jungle Brothers. In 2006, the group won a Grammy for their collaboration with Gorillaz on the single "Feel Good Inc."

In early 2015, they announced plans to release a Kickstarter funded upcoming 9th studio album And the Anonymous Nobody in September 2015; it was released on August 26, 2016. The album tracks are said to be the result of multiple improvised jam sessions. The album also features guest appearances from artists such as Damon Albarn, Little Dragon, David Byrne, 2 Chainz, and Snoop Dogg.

History

Early period 
De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, released in 1989, was a critical smash hit in the hip hop genre. They quickly became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, and the Jungle Brothers among others. The single "Me Myself and I" became a huge hit, further cementing the group's popularity. However, the sixties pop group The Turtles sued De La Soul for using a sample from their 1969 hit "You Showed Me" for the interlude track "Transmitting Live from Mars", despite the fact that The Turtles did not actually write the original song.

Lyrically, much of 3 Feet High and Rising focused on striving for peace and harmony. 3 Feet High and Rising also introduced De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, y'all"). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies. This stereotype greatly agitated the group's members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style; this frustration would influence their next recording sessions. In the press kit for 3 Feet High and Rising, the members explained their stage names: Trugoy when reversed spells yogurt, because he likes yogurt, and Posdnuos spelled backwards is "sound sop". The album artwork was designed by radical British artist collective the Grey Organisation.

De La Soul's second album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991) was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it still managed to maintain a light, absurd sense of humor. The cover of the album features a broken daisy flower pot, symbolizing the death of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and the imagery that went along with it. The album spawned several singles, including the dark "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa", a tale of a young girl who could no longer take the sexual abuse from her father, and the lead single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)", a story about the people rated with the Black Sheep on "Fanatic of the B Word," Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest on "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'", and Prince Paul makes an appearance on the mic in "Pass the Plugs" with a verse of his own. The album also more prominently featured Vincent Mason as a rapper, providing verses of his own on "Bitties in the BK Lounge," "Afro Connections at a Hi-5," and "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)".

Though it received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as 3 Feet High and Rising it eventually became a cult classic. The Source magazine listed the album as one of their top 100 hip hop albums of all time, stating that "its true genius is rarely understood" . There are several major differences between the CD version of this album and the other formats, as the tracks "Johnny's Dead AKA Vincent Mason", "My Brother's a Basehead", "Kicked Out the House", and "Who Do U Worship?" are only available on the CD. The limited edition double vinyl promotional copies of the album distributed to the media before the official release did not feature these.

Middle period 
The group's third studio release, 1993's Buhloone Mindstate, saw the group evolve a new sound as they continued to grow stylistically and musically. There were several moments on the album which proved the band had matured. "I Be Blowin'" was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by Maceo Parker. The introspective "I Am I Be" showed De La Soul at their most self-referential to date with subject matter about Pos' daughter Ayana Monet as well as his grandmother. "Long Island Wildin'" was a collaboration with Japanese hip hop artists Kan Takagi (Major Force) and trio Scha Dara Parr (SDP). The album's first single, "Breakadawn", used a sample of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" and Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm". De La Soul collaborated for the first time with Gang Starr's Guru on "Patti Dooke", female MC Shortie No Mas, a cousin of Posdnuos, was prominent on many tracks on the album, showcased particularly "In The Woods". The album ended with an old school Biz Markie collaboration called "Stone Age". Missing from vocal duties is Mase, whose voice can only be heard on "Area" in a break near the end of the track. Also rarely featured is his scratching which was heard often on previous albums, with only "In the Woods" showcasing his talent in that area. The album was a critical success, but it was the biggest commercial failure for the group at the time of its release. Many publications, such as Rolling Stone, have listed this album as one of the best hip hop albums of all time.

In 1994, 500 copies of a promotional EP called Clear Lake Audiotorium were released on clear vinyl and CD. The 6 track EP contained edited versions of tracks off of Buhloone Mindstate but also featured the tracks "Sh.Fe.MC's" (Shocking Female MC's) which was a collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest, and Stix & Stonz which featured old-school hip hop artists Grandmaster Caz, Tito of Fearless Four, Whipper Whip, LA Sunshine and Superstar. The EP was widely bootlegged afterwards.

Stakes Is High (1996) was the first album not produced by Prince Paul, with overall production credits given solely to the trio. Although it was met with poor sales, it has been critically lauded for its music, lyricism, and its overall message concerning the artistic decline rap music began to face in the mid-90s. The title track and first single, produced by J Dilla, was not a hit, but the album's second single, "Itzsoweezee (HOT)", with only Dave on vocals, did fare better due to its creative music video. The album spawned a third single "4 More", featuring Zhane which peaked at #52 in the UK. The album did provide a launching pad for future star rapper and actor Mos Def, who appeared on the track "Big Brother Beat". The album also featured collaborations with Common, Truth Enola, and the Jazzyfatnastees.

Later period 

Four years later, De La Soul announced that they would release a triple album series entitled "Art Official Intelligence" (or AOI). All three albums were intended to be released within a year, beginning with the release of Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. This was followed by AOI: Bionix in late 2001. After this, however, the third and final album in the AOI series was never released. For the next two years, the only De La Soul releases were singles or remix compilations. David Jude Jolicoeur stated in an interview that it usually takes about four years for the group to record an album, promote it with advertisements, touring and so on. The group was having trouble finishing the last AOI installment for many reasons, one of which being an ongoing struggle with Tommy Boy Records, which had been releasing its albums ever since its debut.

In the summer of 2002, De La Soul toured with Cake, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Kinky, and the Hackensaw Boys during the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. The band was briefly featured in the video game PaRappa the Rapper 2 with the song "Say "I Gotta Believe!"", featuring Double, and also appeared on the soundtrack of the game.

In 2004, De La Soul released a new full album: The Grind Date on Sanctuary/BMG Records because the venture between Tommy Boy and Warner Bros. Records was shut down and the group's contract was shopped to the other WEA labels. The band thought about having its contract absorbed by Elektra Records, but it decided to leave WEA altogether. Although it was not the third AOI album fans had been expecting, the album was released to some critical acclaim and was well received by most fans. The album features guests MF Doom, Ghostface Killah, Butta Verses and Flavor Flav, with production from 9th Wonder, Jake One, Madlib and more. The lead single "Shopping Bags (She Got from You)" did not fare very well and set the tone for disappointing commercial acceptance. In conjunction with the album's release, the group also offered up the track "Come on Down" featuring Flavor Flav for remixing on Sony's Acid Planet website. The winning remix was "Come On Down (KY Raised NY Glazed)" by Interlude Jones who said he tried to "take the influential sound of old New York hip hop and marry it back to its roots."

Since The Grind Date 
In 2005, De La Soul collaborated with Gorillaz on the hit single "Feel Good Inc.," which won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration (the first Grammy win in the group's career) after being nominated for a total of three Grammys. De La Soul also appeared on the LA Symphony single "Universal" and Posdnuos collaborated with the Portuguese MC Boss AC on a track called "Yo (Não Brinques Com Esta Merda)". The following year they released mixtapes Hip-Hop Mixtape, a covermount with British dance magazine Mixmag, and The Impossible: Mission TV Series – Pt. 1, a release on the group's own AOI Records label. De La Soul collaborated with the athletic sneaker company Nike to produce two versions of the Nike Dunk under their skateboarding division, Nike SB. 
In 2008, the group joined A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Tech N9ne, The Pharcyde and others on the annual Rock the Bells tour and were honored at the 5th Annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors. Later in the year they collaborated with dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip on a re-recording of the British group's debut single "Thou Shalt Always Kill."

De La Soul returned as a guest on the third Gorillaz studio album, Plastic Beach alongside Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys on the song "Superfast Jellyfish". Two other collaborations were recorded, but did not make the final cut for the album. They were supposed to appear on a track entitled "Sloped Tropics", though this song did not make the final cut. The group remixed indie rockers Yo La Tengo's single, "Here To Fall for the Here To Fall" remixes EP which included remixes by RJD2 and Pete Rock, and were featured on a remix of Matt & Kim's single "Daylight" by DJ Troublemaker.

In 2011, the group earned Top 5 rankings on both NPR and Soul Train's year end "Best of" lists with the Amerigo Gazaway produced De La Soul/Fela Kuti mashup, Fela Soul. De La Soul and Nike released Are You In?: Nike+ Original Run, which was the group's first original material since The Impossible: Mission TV Series – Pt. 1. The album features Raheem DeVaughn as well as production from the Chicago-based duo Flosstradamus. The recording is a single-track recording at 44 minutes, 17 seconds, part of a continuing series of releases through the "Nike+ Sport Music" section of the online store.

The group released De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 presents... First Serve in April 2012, an album that did not feature any contributions from Maseo. With very little promotion, the album was released to positive reviews. This was followed by releasing one track a month during 2013.

In March 2015, De La Soul created a Kickstarter to help fund their upcoming album. It surpassed the original goal of $110,000 in under ten hours. The resulting album, And the Anonymous Nobody, was released in August 2016. Originally planned for an April release, but delayed due to rights issues,  the full-length was preceded by 4 track EP For Your Pain & Suffering and the single Pain, featuring Snoop Dogg. The album was nominated at the 59th Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album.

De La Soul was featured on the track "Momentz" on Gorillaz' 2017 album Humanz, on Leap of Faith by Mr. Jukes, alongside Horace Andy, and on Tom Misch's 2018 single "It Runs Through Me." A tenth studio album, featuring production contributions from Pete Rock and DJ Premier, will reportedly be released by Mass Appeal Records.

Catalog dispute 
De La Soul's back catalog has not been released on audio streaming services or digital media stores. Until 2017, it was owned by Warner Records, which, according to Posdnuos, had been reluctant to clear samples and renegotiate contracts. The samples used in De La Soul's music were only cleared for physical media distribution; the wording of their contracts is not vague enough to enable them to distribute the music digitally on unforeseen technologies.

In 2017, the catalog was purchased by Tommy Boy Records. In February 2019, De La Soul announced that their catalog would soon be available on digital services. However, as they were unhappy receiving 10% of the revenue, with the rest for Tommy Boy, the release was postponed pending further negotiations. Hip hop artists including Nas, Pete Rock, and Questlove called for a boycott of Tommy Boy. In August, De La Soul announced they had been unable to settle the dispute with Tommy Boy and ended negotiations. In February 2020, Posdnuos said that Tommy Boy "sort of came back to the table, we are looking to sort of get it going". In April, Rostrum Records head Benjy Grinberg said he was attempting to buy Tommy Boy to return the master recordings to De La Soul.

On June 4, 2021, music company Reservoir Media acquired Tommy Boy for USD$100 million. Reservoir said they are working with De La Soul to bring its catalog to digital media storefronts. Two months later on August 8, Talib Kweli revealed that the group gained ownership over their music.

Filmography 
 Teen Titans Go! as Themselves

Discography 

 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
 De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
 Buhloone Mindstate (1993)
 Stakes Is High (1996)
 Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000)
 AOI: Bionix (2001)
 The Grind Date (2004)
 Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve (2012)
 and the Anonymous Nobody... (2016)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards 

!Ref.
|-
| 1990
| "Me Myself and I"
| Best Rap Performance
| 
| 
|-
| 2001
| "Oooh." (featuring Redman)
| Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="3"|2006
| rowspan="3"|"Feel Good Inc." <small>(with Gorillaz)
| Record of the Year
| 
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| 
|-
| Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
| 
|-
| Best Short Form Music Video
| 
|-
|2017
|And The Anonymous Nobody
| Best Rap Album
| 
| style="text-align:center;"|

References

Further reading

External links 

 
 De La Soul Website

Native Tongues Posse
Alternative hip hop groups
East Coast hip hop groups
American dance music groups
Grammy Award winners
Tommy Boy Records artists
Big Life artists
Musical groups from Long Island
Finance Smurf (original French title: Le Schtroumpf Financier) is the sixteenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.

Plot
Papa Smurf's lab explodes while he is making the formula "Ad Capitis mala et alios dolores sanandos" (which is how much Brainy Smurf can read because he is unable to translate it properly as he claims), and when the other Smurfs arrive, Papa Smurf is unconscious. A Smurf goes to the home of the good wizard Homnibus to ask for help. Homnibus realizes that Papa Smurf has fallen sick due to using sulfur in the formula. However, Homnibus lacks some ingredients needed for the cure, so he sends his servant Oliver to buy some. The Smurf goes along with Oliver and learns about money and the humans' commerce system.

The Smurf returns to the Smurf Village with medicine that Papa Smurf must drink three times a day to get better. The Smurf tries to tell Papa Smurf about money, but Papa Smurf is unable to listen to him as Papa Smurf needs rest. So the Smurf decides to put the commerce system into practice as a surprise, thus becoming Finance Smurf.

The first step is to make coins. Finance Smurf asks Painter Smurf to make a picture of Papa Smurf's face inside a circle, which is then used as a model for Sculptor Smurf to make a mold for the coins. Then Handy Smurf pours molten gold on the mold to make the first Smurf coins.

Finance Smurf arranges a conference to explain to the other Smurfs what money is and how it works. Everybody agrees with Finance Smurf's idea to use money from now on (except for Brainy Smurf). Each Smurf gets a bag of money as a start.

At first, the inexperienced Smurfs need Finance Smurf's help to know how much they need to spend or ask for given services. The inexperienced Smurfs find the currency system funny. After some time, trouble begins. While Baker Smurf, Farmer Smurf, Handy Smurf and some other Smurfs become richer, most Smurfs become poorer, They need to find ways to get money. They sell unwanted stuff that they previously did for fun (Jokey Smurf's presents, Harmony Smurf's concerts, Poet Smurf's poems, etc.).

Finance Smurf creates and manages a bank to loan money to the poor Smurfs and store the rich Smurfs' money. Farmer Smurf doesn't trust the institution and goes to bury his money in the forest, only to encounter Gargamel there. As Farmer Smurf escapes, he drops a coin, which later is picked up by the evil wizard. The evil wizard now realizes that the Smurfs have money.

Farmer Smurf notices that he has lost a coin. He goes back to get it. When he starts to cross the bridge, it falls apart. Finance Smurf offers to finance the bridge repair cost. From then on, any Smurf who crosses the bridge needs to pay him a toll. Finance Smurf asks Handy Smurf to get the price for the materials. Carpenter Smurf asks 1500 coins for the wood, which Handy Smurf finds too expensive. Another Smurf offers him inferior wood for just 1000 coins, plus a bribe that Handy Smurf accepts.

Farmer Smurf returns to the forest to find his lost coin. Gargamel has placed a yellow-painted lead coin as bait that lures Farmer Smurf into the trap. Gargamel then sends his crow, Corbelius with a message for the Smurfs to give him all their money in exchange for Farmer Smurf. Papa Smurf, who has recovered, sends a Smurf to spy on Gargamel, and the Smurf spy discovers the wizard setting up a trap in order to get both the Smurfs and their money. The Smurfs fix Gargamel's trap to make it fall on him instead of them. Then, while Finance Smurf and Brainy Smurf carry the money back to the Village, other Smurfs go to Gargamel's house to save Farmer Smurf from Azrael. Papa Smurf decides to have a party to celebrate their triumph, but then Finance Smurf asks who will pay for the party. In  the end there's no party.

Papa Smurf learns that he will have to pay a large sum of money to Handy Smurf in order for him to rebuild his destroyed laboratory, but before he can do that he has to pay Smurfette for nursing him during his sickness, Baker Smurf for food, and other Smurfs for various other services. Thus he quickly becomes poor. When Finance Smurf suggests that he make the Smurfs pay for any kind of help he gives them, Papa Smurf soundly refuses. Papa Smurf then observes the Village and notes that all the things the Smurfs once did in a cooperative spirit are now done if they are paid only, and there are fights over money as well as stress all around due to the constant work.

One day, a Smurf gets sick of the aggravating currency-based life and decides to leave the Smurf Village. Other Smurfs agree and leave the Smurf Village with him, including Papa Smurf. Everyone leaves except for Finance Smurf, who tells them that they cannot leave because they owe him money. They responded by throwing him all the money. At first, Finance Smurf refuses to revert to the old ways and even gloats about having the whole Smurf Village for himself. Eventually, he changes his mind. He decides he doesn't want to be alone, so he asks everybody to return to the village and reuse the old system based on cooperation. The coins are converted into golden musical instruments.

Issues
The subject of the comic book is the famous system that has been implemented on human society: money. Peyo shows us the social differences that grow between the Smurfs (rich and poor). We can also see how the lifestyle of smurfs changes, revolving around money and bringing misery everywhere.
Although the book was never adapted for the television cartoon series, there is an episode entitled "The Smurfs and the Money Tree" which also revolves around money, namely an enchanted money tree created by Gargamel and his mother to trap the Smurfs. But because Greedy Smurf finds the tree first, instead of actual money, it turns out to carry chocolate coins wrapped in gold with Greedy's image on them.
Finance Smurf is Peyo, Pierre Culliford's last comic book work before his death on December 24, 1992. From that point onwards, his son Thierry Culliford take over in creating all Smurf comic book stories. Thierry Culliford mostly involves in writing the stories while working with various cartoon artists that create the artworks.

See also 
 Characters in The Smurfs

The Smurfs books
es:El pitufo financiero
fr:Le Schtroumpf financier A pay-as-you-go pension plan is a retirement scheme, where as in which a said contributor can choose how much money they would like to be deducted regularly from either their paycheck, or by perhaps a lump sum to their own retirement fund. The funds they choose to provide goes towards a retirement plan which can be then redeemed upon reaching retirement age.

With this type of plan, the contributor can decided how much money they see fit to contribute to the fund. With the funds that are contributed, the contributor will be able to devise a plan on what to invest in, which in turn leaves said contributor as the person mainly responsible for how much the pension can grow. Choosing an investment that is more risky can lead to a bigger return on money however, it is also possible to choose a steady and safe investment in order to have a consistent return on money.

Upon reaching the age of retirement, the contributor can choose to have their money paid to them in a lump sum, which means they will receive one large cheque with their money, or they also have the other option to receive their cash in monthly installments. A combination of these two methods is possible whereas the contributor could receive a smaller monthly fee along with a small lump sum withdrawal.

Difference to pay-as-you-go pension systems 
Private pay-as-you-go pension plans are not to be confused with pay-as-you-go pension systems. The latter term refers to state pension systems that are funded by contributions from current workers (rather than by individual past contributions from current beneficiaries). The underlying pay-as-you-go (PAYG or PAYGO) principle is applied in social insurance systems across the world.

References

Retirement plans in the United States