Say No Go | |
Cover: | Say No Go.jpg |
Type: | single |
Artist: | De La Soul |
Album: | 3 Feet High and Rising |
Released: | June 1989 |
Recorded: | 1988 |
Genre: | Alternative hip hop, golden age hip hop |
Length: | 4:21 |
Label: | Tommy Boy |
Producer: | Prince Paul, De La Soul |
Prev Title: | Me Myself and I |
Prev Year: | 1989 |
Next Title: | The Magic Number |
Next Year: | 1990 |
"Say No Go" is a single by De La Soul from their influential 1989 album 3 Feet High and Rising. It reached number 18 in the UK charts.[1] The tune is heavily based on the Hall & Oates song "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)".[2]
During the 1980s and 1990s, the United States faced a severe crack cocaine epidemic. This crisis particularly impacted Black urban communities, leading to increased rates of addiction, violence, and incarceration.[3] In this context, The song is a cautionary tale about the use of drugs, in particular "base" (otherwise known as crack cocaine); 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".
"I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"
"Crossword Puzzle"
"Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)"
"I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)"
Chart (1989) | Peak Position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[5] | 143 |
UK Singles (OCC) | 18 |
32 | |
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 3 |
11 | |
13 | |