Personalized De La Soul Answering Machine Message
[New York]: Tommy Boy Records, [1991].
An original recording by one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time, De La Soul. Promotional-only cassette tape with a personalized answering machine message, given out to record execs and other important people in the music industry. Each copy is personalized by Pos and Mace for the person who received it, over a special version of "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey Hey)" off of the album De La Soul is Dead. The song has answering machine-themed lyrics (topical in the early '90s-- think Bruce McCullough's "Answering Machines" song) that make this a fitting novelty item. This particular copy is dedicated to Jerry West, owner of DJs Record Shop in Jacksonville, Florida-- a prominent Black-owned business operating since the mid-1960s. Cassette tape in case with b/w J-card printed on lightweight paper. Recording is approximately 30 seconds. Plays fine; mp3 file dub available with purchase. An extremely scarce promo item from arguably the height of the group's artistic output. We are unaware of any other of these tapes ever surfacing for sale or auction.
Price: $2,000