De La Soul music finally hits streaming services in March

The music of hip-hop pioneers De La Soul — whose rousing 1989 debut, "Three One of the genre's greatest albums, Feet High and Rising, will finally hit streaming services for the first time on March 3, the band announced on Tuesday. sample clearances and other legal issues, was acquired by Reservoir Media as part of its acquisition of the Tommy Boy Records catalog; Reservoir will distribute the catalog through its Chrysalis Records.

The ad reads: "The Reservoir and Chrysalis teams worked with De La Soul and their label , AOI, to bring their music to digital streaming services. Reservoir is pleased to share 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) and 'AOI: Bionix' (2001), will be available to fans worldwide on March 3, 2023. on the 34th anniversary of the release of their debut album, '3 Feet High and Rising.'”

The catalog is preceded by the release of their single "The Magic Number" on January 13 — the song , the opening track of "Three Feet High and Rising", was used in the end credits of the hit 2021 film "Spider-Man: No Way Home", but was not legally available at the time .

With 1989's "Three Feet High and Rising," the Long Island trio created one of the most groundbreaking albums in hip-hop history, bringing a joyful, psychedelic, flowery vibe – dubbed “the D.A.I.S.Y. Age” – to a genre that had been largely musically and lyrically aggressive and/or self-aggrandizing until With songs like "Me Myself and I", "Say No Go", "The Magic Number", and lead single "Plug Tunin'", the album was certified platinum and reached No. 1 on the charts. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop (and No. 24 on the Billboard 200 album chart) and is universally recognized as one of the best and most influential albums in hip-hop history.

But the band's album and other early recordings for decades were mired in legal issues with Tommy Boy (read more about it here), resulting both from the heavy use of unthinned samples - an area that was an uncharted Wild West at the time - and the band's contract with the company, that the members signed when they were teenagers. Consequently, early classic De La Soul recordings are not available on streaming services; the band members claimed in 2019 that, per their contract, they would only receive 10% of streaming revenue and refused to sign. Along with much of the late R&B singer Aaliyah's back catalog — a stalemate that's also, apparently, about to be resolved — he remains one of the few major artists left on streaming services.

De La Soul said, "We can't believe this day has finally come, and we are thrilled to be able to share our music with fans old and new. Golnar, Rell, Faith and the Reservoir team have been great partners throughout this process. We are grateful that our relationship with them allowed this to happen. »

Faith Newman, Executive Vice President of Reservoir, A&R and Catalog Development, added, "In As someone who's dedicated my life to hip-hop for over 30 years, my relationship with the guys at De La Soul dates back to my early days in the industry, and I can attest to the influence their catalog had on the She added, "When Reservoir acquired Tommy Boy, the first call we made was to De La Soul. We promised each other to bring their music to streaming, and that means the whole world for our team holds that promise and exposes a whole new generation of listeners to one of the most significant catalogs in hip-hop history.

Reservoir President a...