"Say No Go" is a single by

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 ...

from their influential 1989 album '' 3 Feet High and Rising''. It reached number 18 in the UK charts. The tune is heavily based on the

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and ba ...

song " I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)".

Background

During the 1980s and 1990s, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

faced a severe crack cocaine epidemic. This crisis particularly impacted Black urban communities, leading to increased rates of

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, violence, and

incarceration Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

. In this context, The song is a cautionary tale about the use of

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

, in particular "base" (otherwise known as

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be Smoking, smoked. Crack offers a short, intense Euphoria (emotion), high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Sub ...

); a topic they would tackle on their follow-up album, '' De La Soul Is Dead'', albeit from a different perspective, on the song "My Brother's a Basehead". In the opening line, Posdnuos raps: ''"Now let's get right on down to the skit / A baby is brought into a world of pits / And if it could've talked that soon / In the delivery room / It would've asked the nurse for a hit".''

Track listing

# "Say No Go (Say No Dope Mix)" - 6:15 # "Say No Go (New Keys Vocal)" - 4:51 # "Say No Go (Radio Mix)" - 4:21 # "The Mack Daddy on the Left" - 2:33 #*Guest Appearance: Chi Ali # "Say No Go (New Keys Instrumental)" - 5:01 ;Samples "Say No Go" includes samples from the following songs: *

: " I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" *

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

: "

Crossword Puzzle A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...

" *

The Detroit Emeralds The Detroit Emeralds are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B/soul vocal group, best known in the early 1970s. They enjoyed a run of successful records in the decade including their 1973 transatlantic hit single, "Feel the Need in Me". Career "The ...

: " Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)" *

Emotions Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

: " Best of My Love" *

Funky 4 + 1 Funky 4 + 1 was an American hip hop group from The Bronx, New York, composed of Jazzy Jeff, Sha-Rock (b. Sharon Green), D.J. Breakout, Guy Williams, Keith Keith, The Voice of K.K., and Rodney Cee (Stone). The group originally started with K.K ...

: " That's The Joint" *

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), ...

: " I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)" * Walter Schumann: " Dragnet (theme music)"

Charts

Yearly charts

References

{{Reflist 1989 singles De La Soul songs Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) Song recordings produced by Prince Paul (producer) Black-and-white music videos 1989 songs Songs about cocaine Protest songs Tommy Boy Records singles Songs written by Vincent Mason Songs written by Kelvin Mercer Songs written by David Jude Jolicoeur Songs written by Prince Paul (producer)

Background

Track listing

Charts

Yearly charts

See also

References