De La Soul is an American hip-hop group formed in Long Island, New York, in the late 1980s around Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove and Maseo. Their music stands out for inventive and often playful rapping, eclectic sampling and a more experimental and introspective approach than much of the hip-hop of their era. With albums such as 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead and Buhloone Mindstate, De La Soul became one of the most influential groups in alternative hip-hop.