"Me Myself and I" is a song by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

trio

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

, released in April 1989 as a single from their debut studio album, ''

3 Feet High and Rising ''3 Feet High and Rising'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group De La Soul, released on February 6, 1989, by Tommy Boy Records. It was the first of three collaborations with the producer Prince Paul, and was the critical and ...

'' (1989). It was the group's only number one on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart. The song also topped the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. The song's number one position in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

was spurred by the

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

television station, who made a documentary about De La Soul after meeting them when they were still unknown. The record label Indisc acquired the local rights from

Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Records is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Amber, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digita ...

, and immediately seized the opportunity to release the song as a single. It ranked number 46 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Background and composition

De La Soul member Posdnuos stated: "The words were written pretty quick. ..The press was referring to us as the hippies of hip-hop. This song became a way to express that this wasn't a gimmick, and that we were being ourselves. This is why in my first verse I say, 'You say Plug 1 & 2 are hippies, no we're not, that's pure plug bull.'" Prince Paul and

Maseo Vincent Lamont Mason Jr. (born March 24, 1970) is an American rapper, producer and DJ who is one third of the hip hop group De La Soul. He is also known as Maseo, P.A. Pasemaster Mase and Plug Three. Early life Mason graduated from Amityvil ...

sat down and came up with the idea of sampling

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

's song "

(Not Just) Knee Deep "(Not Just) Knee Deep" is a song by the American funk band Funkadelic, written by George Clinton. The song was released as a single for their album '' Uncle Jam Wants You'' (1979). The song is widely regarded as a funk classic, peaking at No. 7 ...

" for the beat of "Me Myself and I". When they played the beat to Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove, they did not like it because the group was anti-radio and anti-establishment, but went ahead and reluctantly recorded their vocals over the beat.

Critical reception

Jerry Smith from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' wrote, "Hot dance band of the moment, De La Soul issue this engagingly loping track from their much acclaimed album, ''

''. And its strong beat and rhythmic rap is sure to take it high chartwards."

Music video

As high school students, all three members of De La Soul are assigned to take a class taught by Professor Def Beat. Def Beat instructs his students to adopt prevalent rap/hip-hop mannerisms of the late 1980s, such as wearing gold chains, sunglasses, expensive sneakers, and track suits, learning the cross-armed hip-hop stance, and recklessly scratching records to the point that one flies off the record player and a classmate gets one embedded in his head. Because the trio stick to their unique style and refuse to participate in class, they get punished and shamed for being themselves. Def Beat puts Posdnuos in the corner with a Kangol dunce cap on his head while Trugoy gets pelted with paper balls and trash by the other students. Duplicates of the three, dressed in brightly colored clothing, emerge from the back of the room and give them passes allowing them to drop the class. The original three members get up from their desks, throw the drop slips in Def Beat's face, and leave the room. Prince Paul, who produced the single, appears briefly at the start of the video to deliver an opening narration. Posdnuos stated, "I'm a big '' Twilight Zone'' fan, so when it was time to figure out how to include Prince Paul in the video, we went with him being a hip-hop

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

to set up the story." He also recalled: " standout memory wasshooting the scene where the teacher Def Beat throws the record into one of the student's heads. All the students were all fans of our music and were happy to have the opportunity to be in the video." Posdnuos commented: "This video underscored individuality - confidence in owning who you are and want to be, regardless of what others think. It was our first video with a budget."

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, rapper and bass guitarist, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip (musician), Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the grou ...

and

Q-Tip Cotton swabs (American English) or cotton buds (British English), also Q-tips ( proprietary eponym), are wads of cotton wrapped around a short rod made of wood, rolled paper, or plastic. They are most commonly used for ear cleaning, although th ...

from

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

appear in the video. Ali is the one who writes "De La Sucks" on the boys' bathroom wall.De La Soul - The Making of 'Me Myself and I' (Vevo Footnotes)
/ref>

Track listing

List of samples

"Me Myself and I" * "

" by

(1979) * "Rapper Dapper Snapper" by

Edwin Birdsong Edwin L. Birdsong (August 22, 1941 – January 21, 2019) was an American keyboardist and organist, known in the 1970s and 1980s for his experimental funk/disco music. Birdsong did not achieve much chart success, but developed a strong fan base. ...

(1980) * "

Funky Worm "Funky Worm" is a song by American funk group the Ohio Players, from their album ''Pleasure''. It peaked at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1973 and also peaked at number fifteen on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Billboard'' ran ...

" by the

Ohio Players Ohio Players are an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire" and " Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of the women were models f ...

(1973) * "The Original Human Beatbox" by Doug E. Fresh (1985) * "Gonna Make You Mine" by Loose Ends (1986) "Ain't Hip to Be Labeled a Hippie" * "Hard Times" by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band (1976) "What's More" * "You Baby" by

The Turtles The Turtles are an America, American Band (rock and pop), rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby (song), ...

(1966) "Brain-Washed Follower" * "

Funky President Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...

" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

(1974) * "You Made A Believer (Out of Me)" by Ruby Andrews (1971) * "Booty Butt" by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

(1971) * "So This Is Our Goodbye" by The Moments (1972)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Compilation appearances

*''

All That "Hip Hop" ''All That "Hip Hop"'' is an alternative hip hop music compilation album by Warner Music Australia. It is a collection of three CDs containing music from various artists, released in 2005. Track listing Disc 1 # Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Fo ...

'' (2005)

References

{{authority control 1989 singles Songs written by Vincent Mason Songs written by Kelvin Mercer Songs written by David Jude Jolicoeur Songs written by Prince Paul (producer) De La Soul songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Song recordings produced by Prince Paul (producer) 1989 songs Tommy Boy Records singles Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) Jazz rap songs