Say No Go

Album: 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
Charted: 18
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is a put-down of class A drug users, in particular "base" (otherwise known as crack-cocaine). The title is a reference to Nancy Reagan's late-'80s anti-drug campaign "Just Say No."
  • The vocal hook in the chorus is sampled from Daryl Hall and John Oates' "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)." Other samples include "Crossword Puzzle" by Sly & the Family Stone, "Best Of My Love" by The Emotions, "Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)" by the Detroit Emeralds and "I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)" by The Turtles.
  • The album Three Feet High And Rising was the first daisy age LP to be a hit. It was also the first hip-hop release to attract copyright problems when The Turtles hit De La Soul with a lawsuit over a string sample of "You Showed Me" on "Transmitting Live from Mars." Three Feet High And Rising was voted the top album of 1989 by The Face magazine and referred to as "The Sgt. Pepper of Hip Hop" by Village Voice, whose critics poll also voted this the top album of 1989 by a substantial margin. In addition it was ranked #7 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005."
  • Trugoy the Dove of De La Soul recalled to Rolling Stone: "Crack. We grew up around neighborhoods where there was an epidemic. We knew drug dealers and some of us actually stood on the corner ourselves. We didn't know about songs where people were boasting about being drug dealers at that time, so for us, speaking about social issues and things that were going on in our neighborhood worked. Those three words, 'say no go,' kinda caught our ear and we thought we could make that about not doing drugs."
  • The video was one of the first directed by Mark Pellington, who did it freelance while working in the promos department for MTV. Pellington went on to direct the "Jeremy" video for Pearl Jam and "Beautiful Girl" video for INXS.

    De La Soul has a rather colorful motif, but Pellington did "Say No Go" in black and white, reflecting the gritty subject matter.

Comments: 1

  • Dave from Edmonton, CanadaThe album is called "Three Feet High and Rising", just so you know.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."