Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
NME	10/10
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10
Tiny Mix Tapes	5/5
Uncut
The Village Voice	A−

3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by American hip hop trio De La Soul. It was released on March 14, 1989, by Tommy Boy Records and Warner Bros. Records. It marked the first of three full-length collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. It is consistently placed on 'greatest albums' lists by noted music critics and publications.Robert Christgau called the record "unlike any rap album you or anybody else has ever heard." In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums.

Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It contains the singles, "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know". In 2001, the album was re-issued along with an extra disc of B-side tracks, and alternative versions. The album title came from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising". It was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

The album's artwork was designed by Toby Mott's and Paul Spencer's radical British art collective the Grey Organisation (GO). In 1986 Mott and Spencer had moved from London to New York after GO's infamous paint attacks on Cork Street art galleries, where they began working as bicycle messengers. By 1989, GO were exhibiting their paintings around the East Village and working as art directors for Tommy Boy Records and MTV (among others) making music videos for various groups, such as Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Rolling Stones. GO also began designing album covers for groups such as Information Society and De La Soul, most notably 3 Feet High and Rising.

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