De La Soul’s discography, which includes timeless albums like 1989’s 3 Feet High and Rising, will, at last, be streamable. On March 3, the first six albums by the hip-hop group will be made available on digital streaming sites.
Ever since Reservoir Media acquired the group’s master recordings in 2021, a historic change has been planned.
Until now, De La Soul’s use of hundreds of samples has been constrained by complicated licensing constraints.
The band released a statement in which it said, “We can’t believe this day has finally arrived, and we are pleased to be able to share our music with fans, old and new.”
What caused the delay?
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De La Soul’s Kelvin Mercer, nicknamed Posdnuos, called the absence of their back catalog “heart-wrenching” in a 2016 interview with the BBC.
He added that although the band’s contracts did not anticipate the emergence of digital music, their samples—more than 70 on 3 Feet High and Rising alone—had been (largely) permitted for release in 1989.
On those early albums, our contracts expressly stated “vinyl and cassette,” he remarked. “The language wasn’t ambiguous enough to accommodate [new] music technologies.
“Therefore, when the era of digital music began, new agreements had to be made for those full albums.
Warner Bros, who was at the time their record label, “simply don’t want to deal with it,” he continued.
“Are you sure it’s worth it? they ask. Almost every song must be thoroughly examined to ensure that this or that sample was authorized.
It has been a very drawn-out, exhausting procedure.
But now that the procedure is finished, one of the final legendary acts that had been absent from streaming sites has joined the fray.
De La Soul’s first six albums
- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
- De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
- Buhloone Mindstate (1993)
- Stakes Is High (1996)
- Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000)
- AOI: Bionix (2001)
Information about De La Soul?
De La Soul, a trio consisting of Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy (David Jude Jolicoeur), and Maseo (Vincent Lamont Mason Jr.), was founded in high school on Long Island, New York, and quickly attracted the notice of producer Prince Paul.
Their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, debuted at the top of Billboard’s top R&B/hip-hop albums chart and is frequently mentioned among the best albums of all time.
It was humorous and eclectic, promoting the value of optimism and peace, and it included well-known songs like Buddy, Eye Know, The Magic Number, Me, Myself, and I.
The album was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2010, which compiles a list of audio recordings judged “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
“De La Soul accomplished more than merely providing for the potential of being unique. They started it, “An essay written by journalist Vikki Tobak was commissioned to commemorate the event.
However, the song’s strong reliance on samples gave their record label some trouble. The Turtles’ 1969 song You Showed Me was utilized in an interlude titled Transmitting Live from Mars without the band’s consent, which led to a lawsuit that cost the group more than $100,000 in damages.
When The Magic Number was used in the end credits of Marvel’s blockbuster movie Spiderman: No Way Home in 2021, it attracted a new audience.
However, Spider-Man fans who went to streaming platforms to hear the song were let down.
Three of De La Soul’s subsequent albums—2004’s The Grind Date, 2016’s And the Anonymous Nobody—are already streaming online. and First Serve in 2012.
Who verified the specimens?
The release of 3 Feet High and Rising, whose vivid, psychedelic tracks marked a turning point in the development of sample-based rap, on March 3rd will celebrate the 34th anniversary of that album’s debut.
On January 13, the trio will also make their hit song The Magic Number available digitally as a way to commemorate the news.
Tommy Boy Records, which had held the rights to De La Soul’s back catalog for 30 years, was purchased by music rights business Reservoir in June 2021 for an estimated $100 million.
On Tuesday, Faith Newman, executive vice president of A&R and catalog development at Reservoir, said: “The first person we contacted after Reservoir acquired Tommy Boy [Records] was De La Soul.
We promised to broadcast their music, and it means the world to our team to deliver on that commitment and introduce one of the most significant back catalogs in hip-hop history to a brand-new audience.
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