De La Soul, the iconic Long Island rap group, just signed a contract with Reservoir Media that will make their complete library [the group’s first six albums] available for streaming. This agreement follows years of disputes with their former record company, Tommy Boy Records, over the ownership of their works.

The new partnership allows listeners to stream the entirety of De La Soul’s repertoire, including their famous albums 3 Foot High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, and Buhloone Mindset.

Reservoir Media purchased Tommy Boy in 2021 and reached an agreement with De La Soul to release their back catalog on digital streaming platforms (DSPs) on March 3, 2023.

Deborah Mannis-Gardner, a sample clearance expert, assisted De La Soul in clearing their digital samples for release. She stated that if a sample is resung or replayed, publishers are contacted for permission.

Deborah spoke to Okayplayer, saying: “Tommy Boy Records and De La were clients of mine way back in the beginning, but Tommy Boy opted to do a lot of clearances in-house.” Then, it came back around… I’d have to look up what year it was, but it was when De La was still with Tommy Boy. Tommy Boy brought DMG Clearances on board to try to clean up all these albums because they determined that they did not have the right for digital releases.

“When we went to start approaching the publishers and labels, there was some press that the members of De La Soul had issues with Tommy Boy Records. So a lot of the copyright holders, when we approached them, weren’t keen on getting in the middle of this battle. They wanted back payment from Tommy Boy. It was just stalling out. It wasn’t successful at all.”

She went on to say, “When the catalog was sold to Reservoir—and Reservoir was so wonderful to give it back to the guys—I reached out, saying I would love to help to make sure that this historical album gets out there properly, because there’s generations that haven’t had the opportunity to hear De La Soul. You wanna talk about the history of hip-hop and rap, and we’ve got the 50th anniversary—this is it. De La Soul is the shining example of what it was all about. I am honored that I got to work on this. “I am thrilled that the copyright holders that we approached were so amenable to working with us and the guys to help make this happen.”

With the re-release of this music, die-hard fans can enjoy it once more, and it is certain to offer great joy to hip-hop aficionados everywhere.

Members

Vincent Lamont Mason Jr., 52, is an American rapper, producer, and DJ. Mason is also known as Maseo, P.A. Pasemaster Mase, and Plug Three. He is from Brooklyn, New York, but grew up on Long Island.

Kelvin Mercer, 53, also known by his stage names Posdnuos, Plug 1, and occasionally Pos, is an American rapper and producer from East Massapequa, New York.

David Jude Jolicoeur, also known as Trugoy the Dove, Plug Two, and Dave, was an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York City. In the last years of his life, Jolicoeur was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had to wear a LifeVest defibrillator machine in order to counteract its symptoms. He died on February 12, 2023, at age 54.

Source – Tru News Report