The song's number one position in The Netherlands was spurred by the VPRO television station, who made a documentary about De La Soul after meeting them when they were still unknown.[3] The record label Indisc acquired the local rights from Tommy Boy Records, and immediately seized the opportunity to release the song as a single. It ranked number 46 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Background and composition
De La Soul member Posdnuos stated: "The words were written pretty quick. [...] The press was referring to us as the hippies of hip-hop. This song became a way to express that this wasn't a gimmick, and that we were being ourselves. This is why in my first verse I say, 'You say Plug 1 & 2 are hippies, no we're not, that's pure plug bull.'"[4]
Prince Paul and Maseo sat down and came up with the idea of sampling Funkadelic's song "(Not Just) Knee Deep" for the beat of "Me Myself and I". When they played the beat to Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove, they did not like it because the group was anti-radio and anti-establishment, but went ahead and reluctantly recorded their vocals over the beat.[5]
Critical reception
Jerry Smith from Music Week wrote, "Hot dance band of the moment, De La Soul issue this engagingly loping track from their much acclaimed album, 3 Feet High and Rising. And its strong beat and rhythmic rap is sure to take it high chartwards."[6]
Music video
As high school students, all three members of De La Soul are assigned to take a class taught by Professor Def Beat, to their dismay. Def Beat instructs his students to adopt prevalent rap/hip-hop mannerisms such as gold chains and track suits, and the trio earn the mockery of their classmates for refusing to do so. Duplicates of the three, dressed in brightly colored clothing, emerge from the back of the room and give them forms allowing them to drop the class. The original three members get up from their desks, throw the drop slips in Def Beat's face, and leave the room. Prince Paul, who produced the single, appears briefly at the start of the video to deliver an opening narration.
Posdnuos stated, "I'm a big Twilight Zone fan, so when it was time to figure out how to include Prince Paul in the video, we went with him being a hip-hop Rod Serling to set up the story." He also recalled: "[A standout memory was] shooting the scene where the teacher Def Beat throws the record into one of the student's heads. All the students were all fans of our music and were happy to have the opportunity to be in the video." Posdnuos commented: "This video underscored individuality - confidence in owning who you are and want to be, regardless of what others think. It was our first video with a budget."[7]
