Cease us if you’ve heard this one earlier than: De La Soul’s again catalog will quickly be obtainable on streaming companies. Properly this time, it seems it’ll really occur, with the legendary hip-hop trio saying that their music will lastly hit the digital realm on March 3.
De La Soul began teasing the information on social media and their web site. A submit on Fb featured a picture that learn merely “De La Soul streaming on 3/3/23.” In the meantime, on Instagram, the group shared a video of a large billboard — along with Amazon Music — emblazoned with, “Alexa, what’s the magic quantity.”
A rep for De La Soul didn’t instantly return Rolling Stone’s request for additional remark.
De La Soul’s again catalog has been caught in digital purgatory for years thanks to numerous authorized points. Chief amongst them: The myriad uncleared samples that outlined the sound of De La Soul’s traditional information, however made them a authorized minefield when it got here to creating them obtainable digitally. In 2014, De La Soul determined to bypass official channels and easily make their music obtainable without cost for a short time frame because it was about all they may do.
For a number of years as properly, the rights to the band’s catalog had been tousled in main label purple tape from their time at Warner Bros. Information. In 2019, that appeared to get cleared away when De La Soul’s first label, Tommy Boy, regained management of the trio’s catalog — however negotiations over the streaming rights had been fraught, finally main De La Soul to chop ties with Tommy Boy earlier than any music was made obtainable on-line.
In June 2021, issues appeared attainable as soon as extra when the music rights firm, Reservoir Media, acquired Tommy Boy. A pair months later, De La Soul introduced on Instagram Stay that they might attempt to have their music on streaming platforms by the top of the yr. Although it took a bit longer than that, it seems that effort will lastly materialize in just some months.
“We’re making an attempt to work arduous and diligently together with the nice of us at Reservoir to get this accomplished. We sat down and we obtained it accomplished fairly fast, really,” Trugoy the Dove mentioned on the time. “It was sort of spectacular how briskly we obtained it accomplished, possibly in two weeks time tops… Completely totally different strategy than what was taking place with Tommy Boy and I’m not chatting with bash [founder] Tom Silverman or Tommy Boy in any method, however we’re completely happy that that chapter is over and accomplished with.”