Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve

Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve is an album from hip-hop group De La Soul members Kelvin Mercer (a.k.a. Plug 1), and David Jolicoeur (a.k.a. Plug 2), in collaboration with French DJ duo Chokolate and Khalid, released on April 3, 2012. In the album the duo adopt the persona of "First Serve" a hip-hop band making it in the music industry in the late 1990s. Mercer takes the persona of "Jacob 'Pop Life' Barrow", and Jolicoeur takes the persona of "Deen Witter". The album details the fictional band making it in the music industry, their success, breakup, and eventual reformation. Jolicoeur and Mercer have been interviewed in character as Barrow and Witter, often quoting De La Soul as an "influence", and describing De La Soul as "those guys".

2012 studio album by De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2

Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve
Studio album by De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2
Released	April 3, 2012
Recorded	2010–2012
Genre	East Coast hip hop, alternative hip hop
Length	65:26
Label	Duck Down Music Inc. PIAS
Producer	Chokolate & Khalid Filali a.k.a. 2&4
De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 chronology
Are You In? (2009) Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve (2012) And the Anonymous Nobody... (2016)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	B[3]
Clash	7/10[4]
Consequence of Sound	[5]
HipHopDX	[6]
Mojo	[7]
PopMatters	6/10[8]
Q	[9]
RapReviews	8/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]

Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve is an album from hip-hop group De La Soul members Kelvin Mercer (a.k.a. Plug 1), and David Jolicoeur (a.k.a. Plug 2), in collaboration with French DJ duo Chokolate and Khalid,^[12] released on April 3, 2012.

In the album the duo adopt the persona of "First Serve" a hip-hop band making it in the music industry in the late 1990s. Mercer takes the persona of "Jacob 'Pop Life' Barrow", and Jolicoeur takes the persona of "Deen Witter". The album details the fictional band making it in the music industry, their success, breakup, and eventual reformation.^[13]

Jolicoeur and Mercer have been interviewed in character as Barrow and Witter, often quoting De La Soul as an "influence", and describing De La Soul as "those guys".^[14]

Track listing

[edit]

Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present... First Serve track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Opening Credits"	3:39
2.	"Pushin' Aside, Pushin' Along"	4:15
3.	"The Work"	4:07
4.	"Small Disasters"	2:40
5.	"We Made It"	4:29
6.	"We Made It – Interlude"	0:49
7.	"Must B the Music"	4:09
8.	"Goon TV – Interlude"	1:22
9.	"The Book of Life"	4:01
10.	"Clash Symphony"	3:25
11.	"Pop Life"	5:17
12.	"Tennis"	4:15
13.	"The Top Chefs"	3:00
14.	"Backstage – Interlude"	1:32
15.	"Move 'Em In, Move 'Em Out"	5:08
16.	"Ending Credits"	3:08

References

[edit]

1. ^ "Reviews for DE LA SOUL'S PLUG 1 & PLUG 2 PRESENT...FIRST SERVE by Plug 1". Metacritic. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
2. ^ Jeffries, David (February 13, 2023). "First Serve – De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present...First Serve". AllMusic. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
3. ^ Rabin, Nathan (April 3, 2012). "Plug 1 & Plug 2: First Serve". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
4. ^ Oliver, Matt (March 26, 2012). "De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present – First Serve". Clash. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
5. ^ Staskel, Ryan (April 2, 2012). "Album Review: De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present – First Serve". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
6. ^ Cooper, Roman (April 2, 2012). "DE LA SOUL'S PLUG 1 & PLUG 2 PRESENT – FIRST SERVE". HipHopDX. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
7. ^ Unstoppably ace. [May 2012, p.88]
8. ^ Amidon, David (June 6, 2012). "FIRST SERVE: DE LA SOUL'S PLUG 1 & PLUG 2 PRESENT... FIRST SERVE". PopMatters. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
9. ^ Joyously propulsive... [Yet] there's little deviation from a straightforward palette of sticky basslines and boom-bap rhythms. [May 2012, p.95]
10. ^ Gutwillig, Matthew 'Matt G' (February 13, 2023). "De La Soul – Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present First Serve". RapReviews. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
11. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (April 19, 2012). "De La Soul's Plug 1 and Plug 2". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
12. ^ "Serving up a new treat: De La Soul stars Kelvin and Pos return as First Serve". The Mirror. March 29, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
13. ^ Kuperstein, Slava (April 2, 2012). "De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present First Serve". HipHopDX. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
14. ^ Copsey, Robert (February 21, 2012). "First Serve (De La Soul) interview: "Four is the magic number now"". digitalspy.com. Retrieved April 29, 2012.