De La Soul are sparring with their former report label Tommy Boy about bringing their again catalog to streaming providers. In a sequence of posts on the rap trio’s Instagram, they communicated their dismay over the phrases of their settlement with Tommy Boy. “We are not happy about releasing our catalog under such unbalanced, unfair terms,” they wrote on February 26. In one other publish, they stated, “The music WILL be released digitally. After 30 long years of good music and paying their debt to hip-hop, De La Soul unfortunately, will not taste the fruits of their labor. Your purchases will roughly go 90% Tommy Boy, 10% De La. Thank you.”
Today, they launched extra statements through Instagram, claiming Tommy Boy had not executed the due diligence of clearing samples within the again catalog earlier than planning to make it accessible to stream. “We are being placed in the line of fire… De La Soul cannot afford negligent hurried business. We are fighting for our livelihood,” a caption reads. “Imagine trying to settle a #phantom2milliondollardebt and now possible lawsuits lurking??? There goes that 10%.” De La Soul then revealed that Tidal had reportedly agreed to not stream their again catalog in solidarity.
During an interview on “Sway In the Morning,” De La Soul’s Maseo defined that after Tommy Boy’s rights have been moved over to Warner Bros. Records, potential pattern infractions throughout the De La Soul stored the label from making it accessible on streaming providers. The De La Soul catalog has since been reacquired by Tommy Boy. Trugoy cited Tommy Boy head Tom Silverman’s lack of religion within the group’s seminal debut 3 Feet High and Rising as a cause why the samples have been by no means cleared.
“Because of the truth that Tommy Boy—Tom Silverman, particularly—didn’t assume that 3 Feet High and Rising was going to do effectively in any respect,” he instructed Sway. “Because of that reason, they decided not to clear stuff.” The group additionally said that they may solely see “pennies” in royalties as soon as the albums are placed on streaming platforms. Find their full look beneath.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Tommy Boy for additional remark.
Read our Sunday Review of De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising.
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