Say No Go  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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"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.

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".

"Say No Go" includes samples from the following songs:

• Hall & Oates: "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"
• Sly Stone: "Crossword Puzzle"
• Detroit Emeralds: "Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)"
• Emotions: "You Got the Best of My Love"
• The Funky Four Plus One More: "It's The Joint"

The song's relevance in 1989, and indeed at present time, was tremendous as it dealt with what had become a new phenomenon in largely urban neighborhoods, often referred to as ghettos. This phenomenon later came to be known as the Crack Epidemic.

Other rap artists who rallied against the spread of crack included Public Enemy ("Night Of The Living Baseheads") and Boogie Down Productions.

"Say No Go" was also a popular dance song and the instrumental for the song has been used on TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Track listing

1. "Say No Go (Say No Dope Mix)" - 6:15
2. "Say No Go (New Keys Vocal)" - 4:51
3. "Say No Go (Radio Mix)" - 4:21
4. "The Mack Daddy on the Left" - 2:33
   • Guest Appearance: Chi Ali
5. "Say No Go (New Keys Instrumental)" - 5:01