Hip-Hop With a Smile From Amityville

Group: De La Soul.

Personnel: Trugoy the Dove, Posdnuos, Pasemaster Mase.

History: Trugoy (David Jolicoeur), Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) and Mase (Vincent Mason Jr.) formed De La Soul not on rap’s usual inner city turf but in high school in suburban Amityville, Long Island (yes, that Amityville), four years ago. The three performed in and around Amityville and eventually in New York, where they met Prince Paul of the rap group Stetsasonic, who worked with them on the single “Plug Tunin’.” The spring, 1988 release of the song brought them dance-floor fame and a steady stream of shows, leading to a deal with the Tommy Boy rap label. The debut album, “3 Feet High and Rising,” released in February, is an acclaimed best seller.

Sound: De La Soul’s been called the “hippies of hip-hop,” but the tag is only valid up to a point, and not much further than the group’s use of flower and peace-sign imagery and its talk of a “D.A.I.S.Y. Age.” This isn’t spacey or psychedelic--it’s much newer and fresher than that. The key ingredient is wit (try saying Trugoy backward for a quick example), with the 24 (yes, 24!) tracks on the album loosely tied together with a running game-show gag and many of the cuts characterized by sampled riffs and found sounds from such unlikely sources as Johnny Cash, Steely Dan and Liberace. De La Soul can get serious when called for (the descriptive “Ghetto Thang”), but the most powerful messages are given with a smile and carried by an anti-fashion attitude that’s a welcome relief from the formulaic hip-hop standards.

Shows: Monday at the Celebrity Theatre, Tuesday at the Palace.