To say that the Alternative Hip Hop sound of late 1980s was the responsibility of a single group of musicians would only be telling part of the truth. In fact, the Native Tongues Posse as a whole was really responsible for the emergence of the sub-genre. Alternative Hip Hop in its origin would revolve around the ideas of Afrocentrism and the celebration of unity among people of different backgrounds. This was the ethos of the Native Tongues Posse, a collective of different Hip Hop groups which was founded by the groups A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers and De La Soul.
Despite the emergence of the Alternative genre being an effort of all three groups, De La Soul did in fact release their album prior to the Posse's co-founders. Members Posdnuos, Maseo and Trugoy (now known as Dave) released 3 Feet High and Rising in '89, which by some has been described as "the Sgt. Pepper of Hip Hop". The production on the album is a collage of samples taken from cartoons, commercials, and various genres of music; this would also consequentially make them the first musical group to be sued for unauthorized sampling. The lyrics were abstract and strange in a fun loving manner. And while some received the album well, others labeled De La Soul as weirdo Hip Hop hippies due to their bizarre antics and use of peace signs and daisies on their album cover. Trying to break away from this image, De La retorted with the album De La Soul Is Dead in 1991 declaring the D.A.I.S.Y. Age dead. However in 1996 things had reached a grim point in not only the Hip Hop industry, but society as a whole. The title of their 4th album said it all, Stakes Is High.
