Way, way back, back, back in the day – before hip hop was even called ‘hip hop’ – b-boys and b-girls would rock jams to see the emcees rap, the deejays spin, the breakers break and the players play. It wasn’t about DJ Tough Guy or MC Hot Stuff. It was the complete live experience: the beats and the rhymes, the uprocking and the pop-locking, the spirit on stage and the energy in the crowd – the whole atmosphere of people from all walks of life coming together to have fun.

Paying dues and making all the right moves ever since the release of their ground-breaking debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, Pos, Dave and Maseo have earned their stripes as trailblazing hip hop pioneers. With playful wordplay, powerful messages, innovative sampling and cheeky skits, they were elemental to the ‘alternative’ hip hop scene and put ‘jazz rap’ on the map. As formative members of the Native Tongues Posse, their movement in hip hop’s evolution spawned a progression toward peace, positivity and prosperity that echoes throughout productions from so many new hip hop innovators from Jurassic 5 to The Roots. On Friday night at the Shores Complex, Adelaide put that ideal to the test and took a step back in time to hip hop’s hey-day to momentarily relive the grassroots of the culture we call hip hop.

Despite the considerable size of the venue, the night’s festivities were staged in the main auditorium, invoking a feeling in spaced intimacy: enough room to move accompanied by a sense of collective closeness. Local legend Madcap treated the growing crowd to an assortment of 90s hip hop classics before DMC Champ DJ Dexter spun them into a frenzy, dropping original Dilla and Wu-tang tunes at a flick of the cross fader.

Having missed their set at Shores on a New Years Day 2008 and being short-changed with only Dave and Pos at The Queens Theatre a number of years ago, I was ready to burst in anticipation when De La finally graced the stage. I could hardly contain my excitement but thankfully I wasn’t the only one. Scrolling off the timeless hits one-by-one – from Me, Myself and I to A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’ to Ring Ring Ring (Ha, Ha, Hey) to Ego Trippin (Part Two) – right through to their newer-yet-just-as-timeless material – from Stakes is High, All Good?, Oooh and Grammy award-winning Gorillaz collab, Feel Good Inc. – De La presented one of the most consistent catalogues in hip hop history.

A sense of frustration with the current hip hop climate came through their performance, as it often does in their music. Yet rather than showing signs of disappointment or defeat, De La relinquished those thoughts and triumphed over them, propelling themselves and the culture to greater heights. They were then joined by fellow luminary and Native Tongue, Dres from Black Sheep who belted out slamming joints Flavour of the Month and The Choice is Yours much to the crowd’s delight. Urging the audience to sing along to the infamous bridge “engine, engine number nine on the New York transit line” several times over, it was certainly a moment to remember.

To top things off, not only was it Dres’ last night in Australia but also his birthday. Celebrating in style, the whole room sung Happy Birthday before filling the stage with bodies in the typical “let’s get all the ladies and the fellas on stage” jam.

With hip hop hallmark 3 Feet High and Rising being released in 1989, the tour was aptly donned the 20th Anniversary Tour. Questionable sound qualities hindered the Adelaide leg a little yet not enough to walk away without some pep in your step and a glide in your stride. Exhibiting the same determination and vigour as when they were just starting out as high school friends, twenty years on (and still counting) De La Soul have still got it. Argh, refreshing. They just don’t make hip hop like they used to now, do they?