More a eulogy for Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur and a heartfelt tribute to his bandmates in De La Soul than an in-depth exploration of the historical context surrounding the group’s seminal discography, Marcus Moore’s High and Rising still manages to pack a lot into its <250 length.

While the book discusses De La’s albums from their 90s heyday to their troubles in the 2010s and 2020s, Moore writes from a personal perspective. Functionally a memoir that evolves through De La’s body of work. It’s insightful and messy in equal measure, and it doesn’t quite add up to more than the sum of its parts, but it still packs an emotional wallop.