De La Soul’s Catalog Is Coming To Streaming Services: “The De Is Finally Here”

After a long, contentious battle with Tommy Boy Records, De La Soul had nearly given up on ever seeing their first six albums land on DSPs. But in July 2021, independent music rights company, Reservoir Media, acquired Tommy Boy’s catalog for $100 million. Now there was hope for Posdnuos, Maseo and Dave to finally see their work available on all streaming services.

On Tuesday (January 3), De La Soul announced the “de” had arrived. The rollout for 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) and AOI: Bionix (2001) officially begins on March 3. The New York City-bred group celebrated the news with several Instagram posts and a giant billboard in Times Square.

As De La Soul noted in the captions, the trio has teamed up with Spotify and Amazon Music for the momentous occasion.

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De La Soul has been attempting to regain control of their masters for decades. In 2019, the group launched a Tommy Boy boycott against the label as they locked horns with founder Tom Silverman. As they wrote on Instagram at the time: “Another disappointing week of contractual tug-of-war b#######. After 30 long years of exploiting, profiting and benefiting from a savory De La Soul legacy…it’s 2019. Tom [Silverman], can we get a taste too??? The #TommyBoycott continues.”

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Maseo, who’s been deflated by the whole situation for years, was noticeably frustrated by the lack of progress.

“This is exposing the truth of the situation at least,” Maseo said of the boycott. “At the end of the day, we all take a hit whether we are the good guy or the bad guy in the situation. I was careful enough to say it’s not everybody. All we ask is to be fair. Look, Tom lost the catalog. And losing the catalog, I could have potentially lost my career. Between now and then, look what I’ve been able to sustain.”

He added: “There’s been a lot of pain and suffering through this. To even take care of my family, I had to tour like a mother f#####. Do you know all the things I’ve missed because of s### like this? I’m not substantially living the way as it appears to be.”

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With that behind them, De La Soul is firmly focused on the future. 3 Feet High and Rising is available for pre-order on De La Soul’s website and will be available at music retailers on March 3 with remaining albums to follow. “The Magic Number” will also be available for streaming on January 13, with a 7″ and cassingle via the website. In the meantime, watch the video for “Me, Myself & I” below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD_crXNhzKs