Industry Rule #4080 is Very Real for De La Soul Right Now

Make no mistake about the fact that Hip-Hop vets De La Soul are legends in the game, having delivered timeless classics like 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead and Stakes Is High. All-in-all, the trio of Posdnuos, Trugoy (Dave) and Maseo have given the culture eight albums — six of which were under the longstanding entity Tommy Boy Records, which went virtually kaput sometime after AOI: Bionix (I’ll get to the most recent two in a second).

Now revived and back in action, Tommy Boy has since reacquired the De La Soul catalog (and others) of that period from Warner Bros, and — after what felt like eternity — it’s been revealed that all of De La’s albums will finally make their way to today’s digital platforms and streaming networks. There’s only one problem: they’re apparently only giving 10 percent to the music’s actual creators, which was revealed via social media:

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Don’t feed the Vultures, support and respect the culture #30years If you wanna support De La Soul, cop the #grinddate and #anonymousnobody albums , Coming soon: #delasoul @realpeterock and @djpremier 2019!!!

A post shared by De La Soul (@wearedelasoul) on Feb 26, 2019 at 10:36am PST

90 percent? I can only expect that Tommy Boy or it’s owner Tom Silverman has a response coming explaining the issue (or, perhaps, an action to fix/resolve it). In the meantime, fans have taken to Tommy Boy’s social media to express how they really feel…De La have also recently stopped by Sway In The Morning to break it down further:

Per De La’s request, make sure you check out those last two projects that were released separate of Tommy Boy: 2004’s The Grind Date and the crowdfunded And the Anonymous Nobody…, which dropped in 2016 (also, Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present… First Serve). Hopefully, the Pete Rock and DJ Premiere-produced project they’re working on will arrive sooner than later.

Q-Tip was right.

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Posted By

Jon Powell

Currently working as Senior Editor of RESPECT. Magazine, I (Jon Powell) have 10 years experience in digital and print media -- this includes writing, photography and video editing production. I have worked extensively in Washington, D.C. and London, England and specialise in urban music and culture.