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This is Fresh Air, I'm Terry Gross.

This week we're celebrating Hip Hop's 50th anniversary

by featuring interviews from our archive with performers

who hold a significant place in lead history.

Today, two groups known for their innovative sampling

and smart clever lyrics,

De La Soul and the Beastie Boys.

We'll start with De La Soul.

De La Soul made its debut in 1989 with the album Three Feet High and Rising,

which went against the grain of harder rap that was prominent at the time.

The album was not only fun, it was funny.

It sampled a wide range of music from Liberace to Steely Dan to George Clinton,

and it helped launch what was called the Native Tongues Movement,

a collective of hip-hop artists known for positive, playful lyrics,

and a lack of posturing.

The founding members of De La Soul were David Jolakor or Dave,

otherwise known as Trugoy the Dove, Vincent Mason,

known as Mace, and Kelvin Mercer, known as Paz or Pazdenus.

The group formed when they were in high school in Amityville, Long Island,

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