After Years Of Roadblocks, De La Soul’s Music Is Finally Coming To Streaming Services In 2023

With a platinum plaque, two gold records, and a Grammy Award to their names, you would think rap trio De La Soul’s catalog would be available for enjoyment across streaming platforms. But, unfortunately for the Library Of Congress inductees, due to several legal issues — including potential earning disputes with their record label, Tommy Boy — emcees Posdnuos (real name Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy (real name David Jude Jolicoeur), and Maseo (real name Vincent Lamont Mason Jr.) never signed off on the agreement.

Now that Reservoir Media has acquired the label, the pioneer posse’s music will be uploaded to streaming services this spring thanks to distribution from its subsidiary Chrysalis Records.

In a joint statement, the Long Island natives spoke on the news, saying, “We can’t believe this day is finally here, and we are excited to be able to share our music with fans, old and new. Golnar, Rell, Faith, and the Reservoir team have been great partners in this entire process. We’re grateful that our relationship with them all has enabled this to happen.”

Streaming giant Spotify took to Twitter to let their subscribers know De La Soul’s catalog will be accessible on its platform on Friday, March 3, to mark the 34th anniversary of the release of De La Soul’s N0. 1 debut album, 3 Feet High And Rising.

As for what music will be uploaded, a statement shared from Reservoir Media shared, “[we are] pleased to share that 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 everywhere.”

Reservoir’s Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development, Faith Newman, who is also a fan of the group, shared how important this news is to the greater music community, saying, “As someone who has devoted my life to hip-hop for over 30 years, my relationship with the guys in De La Soul dates back to my early days in the industry, and I can attest to how influential their catalog is to the genre.”

Newman later added, “When Reservoir acquired Tommy Boy, the first call we made was to De La Soul. We vowed to bring their music to streaming, and it means the world to our team to make good on that promise and expose a whole new generation of listeners to one of the most important catalogs in hip-hop history.”

As a treat, De La Soul will release their hit single “The Magic Number” earlier (on January 13) to hold their fans over until their entire discography is made available.