De La Soul fans can finally rejoice.
The group has announced today that their entire catalog will be available on streaming services for the first time on March 3. Their first six albums will be released digitally for the first time ever on the 34th anniversary of their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising.
Feet High and Rising (1989), De La Soul Is Dead (1991), Buhloone Mindstate (1993), Stakes Is High (1996), Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000), and AOI: Bionix (2001) will arrive on all DSPs on March 3rd but in addition, the group will also be issuing exclusive merchandise, vinyl, CDs, and cassettes via their label AOI and distributed by Chrysalis Records.
Posdnuos, Dave and Maseo have retained control of the rights to the master recordings through their new relationship with Reservoir and Chrysalis Records after a long legal battle with their original label, Tommy Boy Records. “It’s been 20 plus years overdue, but finally, we are here,” says DJ Maseo about today’s announcement.
When Reservoir acquired the Tommy Boy catalog for $100 million last year, they promised to work with the group to “bring the catalog and the music back to the fans.” We are glad that they have delivered on that promise.
Tommy Boy announced plans to put De La Soul’s music on streaming platforms back in 2019, but that didn’t work out after the group spoke out against the “unbalanced, unfair terms” of its contract with the label, which they claim would only given them 10% of streaming profits.
