I’m not a big hip hop fan, but the hip hop I like, I love. De La Soul was one of the acts that worked for me. I saw them in college on their first national tour with Tribe Called Quest (another hip hop act I love) back in the spring of 1990. It was a bargain show in Huff Gymnasium at the University of Illinois.
The one thing I remember most was how big the posse was for both acts. I feel like there were at least 30 – 40 people.
I was in an organization called Starcourse, and we booked and produced many of the live shows on campus. As one of the art directors, I made De La Soul stickers to promote the show.
During Tribe Called Quest’s set, I was backstage and Maseo from Del La Soul asked me where I got the stickers because he thought they looked just like their own stuff. When I told them I made them, he complimented my work and asked if I wanted him to autograph one.
On Starcourse, it was considered taboo and tacky to ask for autographs from the talent, but this was the first time I’d ever been asked to receive one.
I’ll have to dig around and see if I still have that sticker. I did keep quite a few little trinkets and such from those days.