After years of waiting, De La Soul has dropped their hit single The Magic Number, on streaming platforms.
A week after announcing that their entire back catalogue would finally be coming to streaming, American hip hop legends De La Soul have given streaming services their first taste of the catalogue with The Magic Number.
Marvel fans will already recognise the track, as it featured prominently in the end credits to the blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home.
While Spider-Man may have been many younger listeners’ first exposure to the track, fans of old-school hip hop will already be well acquainted with De La Soul’s early work including The Magic Number.
The single is taken from the group’s groundbreaking 1989 debut album 3 Feet High And Rising, a record known for its eclectic samples and positive, socially conscious lyrics that stood in contrast to the more aggressive and materialistic themes of many other hip-hop records at the time. The album was a commercial success, reaching the top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart, and received widespread critical acclaim, being included in several publications’ lists of the greatest albums of all time.
The album’s impact can still be felt in the music of today’s artists. When asked “What album, past or present, does everybody need to hear?” in a recent interview with the Guardian, for instance, Pharrell Williams simply stated “Everybody needs to get ‘3 Feet High And Rising’ and ‘De La Soul Is Dead’”.
In addition to its release on streaming, the group has also rereleased the single as a 7″ vinyl, cassingle and digital download via their website wearedelasoul.com
