Some context: De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The group is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. The members are Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo. The three formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'".
De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, released in 1989, was a critical smash hit in the hip hop genre. They quickly became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers and others. The single "Me Myself and I" became a huge hit, further cementing the group's popularity. However, the sixties pop group The Turtles sued De La Soul for using a sample from their 1969 hit "You Showed Me" for the interlude track "Transmitting Live from Mars", despite the fact that The Turtles did not actually write the original song.  Lyrically, much of 3 Feet High and Rising focused on striving for peace and harmony. 3 Feet High and Rising also introduced De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, y'all"). As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies. This stereotype greatly agitated the group's members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style; this frustration would influence their next recording sessions. In the press kit for 3 Feet High and Rising, the members explained their stage names: Trugoy when reversed spells yogurt, because he likes yogurt, and Posdnuos spelled backwards is "sound sop". The album artwork was designed by radical British artist collective the Grey Organisation  De La Soul's second album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991) was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it still managed to maintain a light, absurd sense of humor. The cover of the album features a broken daisy flower pot, symbolizing the death of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and the imagery that went along with it. The album spawned several singles, including the dark "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa", a tale of a young girl who could no longer take the sexual abuse from her father, and the lead single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)", a story about the people rated with the Black Sheep on "Fanatic of the B Word," Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest on "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'", and Prince Paul makes an appearance on the mic in "Pass the Plugs" with a verse of his own. The album also more prominently featured Vincent Mason as a rapper, providing verses of his own on "Bitties in the BK Lounge," "Afro Connections at a Hi-5," and "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)".  Though it received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as 3 Feet High and Rising it eventually became a cult classic. The Source magazine listed the album as one of their top 100 hip hop albums of all time, stating that "its true genius is rarely understood". There are several major differences between the CD version of this album and the other formats, as the tracks "Johnny's Dead AKA Vincent Mason", "My Brother's a Basehead", "Kicked Out the House", and "Who Do U Worship?" are only available on the CD. The limited edition double vinyl promotional copies of the album distributed to the media before the official release did not feature these.
Was the album well received?
A: As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies.
Some context: Sevendust is an American alternative metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group. Following a few name changes, the members settled on the name Sevendust and released their self-titled debut album on April 15, 1997. They have attained success with three consecutive RIAA gold certified albums, a Grammy nomination, and have sold millions of albums worldwide.
In 1994, bassist Vince Hornsby joined drummer Morgan Rose in a band called Snake Nation. John Connolly, a drummer, left his then band and joined Snake Nation as a guitarist. They recorded their first demo. Not happy with vocals, however, Snake Nation spent a year searching for a new singer before finding Lajon Witherspoon. Six months passed, Clint Lowery joined the band, and they renamed themselves Rumblefish.  Rumblefish was short-lived, however, because they found another band with the same name. They renamed themselves Crawlspace, and released "My Ruin" on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack album entitled More Kombat through TVT Records in 1996. Shortly after, another band named Crawlspac' sent notice that they wanted $2,500 for the rights to their name. Rather than purchase the rights, the band members chose to rename themselves Sevendust, a name inspired by the commercial insecticide brand "Sevin Dust". The song Rumble Fish was included on the band's second album, Home.  Sevendust released their self-titled debut, in-part produced by former Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, on April 15, 1997, known for its heavy riffs, angry vocals and thrash-like drumming, as in the songs "Black" and "Bitch". "Black" became the opening song for nearly every Sevendust concert until 2004. The debut album also contains the song "My Ruin", from the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. Sevendust appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for sixteen weeks and peaked at 165 on April 4, 1998. The album went gold on May 19, 1999.  In 1998, Sevendust performed at Dynamo Open Air (May 29-31) and Ozzfest 1998 (July through August). In the same year they released a compilation called Live and Loud which featured live footage of the band's performance of September 16, 1998 at Chicago's Metro.
Did it do well?
A:
Sevendust appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for sixteen weeks