Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age - by Austin McCoy Hardcover

Book Synopsis

For fans of Dilla Time and The Chronicles of DOOM, a culturally connected celebration of the groundbreaking hip-hop group De La Soul, and how they changed the look, sound, and feel of Black America.

Music artists and trends come and go, but every once in a while, a moment arrives that genuinely changes everything. In 1988, De La Soul, three young men from Amityville, Long Island, did exactly that. Their always innovative work pulled inspiration from artists of the past and popularized cutting-edge music sampling techniques to blend jazz, R&B, and rap as they created a sound unlike any the world had heard before.

But the De La Soul experience didn't end there. These weren't just musicians--they were game-changers in so many ways. From the way they dressed, to the words they spoke, to the day-glo colors of their breakout 3 Feet and Rising, De La Soul rejected convention, refused to be talked back into the box, and left the door open for everyone behind them.

Now, in Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age, West Virginia University history professor Austin McCoy explores how De La Soul not only defined a new era of hip-hop, but also American and Black culture at the same time. Through his eyes, ears, and well-studied recall of '80s, '90s, and 2000s America, McCoy takes us on a journey through the world this innovative musical act made.

One of the few hip-hop groups of their era to stay together long term, De La Soul lived astonishing highs and lows, from forming the Native Tongues collective to influential fights with their publishers to assert the artist's right to control their creations. And after a lifetime left out of music's digital revolution, in 2023 they finally hit streaming services just as it lost founding member David Jolicoeur too soon to see his work reach a brand-new generation of fans.

Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age will connect with DLS fans, '80s babies, and students of the rap game alike, in a beautifully rendered and deeply researched tome that places this group atop the pedestal it deserves.

Review Quotes

"A sprawling, eclectic ode to an understudied piece of rap history."
--Publishers Weekly

"What a gift. Austin McCoy has written a deep and beautiful account of De La Soul's music and the worlds it transformed. Crafted with a fan's heart, critic's ear, and historian's eye, this book is insightful, surprising, and compelling. Just like De La Soul."
--Charles L. Hughes, author of Country Soul and Why Bushwick Bill Matters

"With his own mix of professional and personal insights, Austin McCoy has provided a gripping account of the impact of one of the most transformative musical groups of all time."
--Kevin M. Kruse, co-author of Fault Lines

"Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age feels like a ghost story. De La Soul vanished--their back catalog gone and legacy dead to our digital culture, it seemed. But Austin McCoy brings them back. Deeply researched and tenderly written. This is an essential origin story."
--Felicia Angeja Viator, author of To Live and Defy in LA and curator for the GRAMMY Museum's Hip-Hop in America: The Mixtape Exhibit

"Living In a D.A.I.S.Y. Age is a brilliant and in-depth look at not just a pivotal and massively important rap group, but also a generous and incisive dive into the culture that they shaped, the culture that shaped them, and the universe they operated in that many of us still benefit richly from."
--Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestselling author of There's Always This Year and A Little Devil in America

"Austin McCoy digs underneath the sampling and lyricism to unearth how revolutions in hip-hop, the music business, and the nation's politics and culture shape music consumption and community."
--Katherine Rye Jewell, author of Live from the Underground

About the Author

Austin McCoy is an assistant professor of history at West Virginia University, specializing in African American History, labor history, social movements, and hip-hop culture. His work has appeared in numerous outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, Black Perspectives, and more. He lives in West Virginia.