De La Soul’s classic albums are available to stream for the first time after a long-standing sample release issue was resolved. 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). available on all streaming platforms.
The group’s music came to stream earlier this year, before the death of founding member Trugoy The Dove. Trugoy died in February at the age of 54. Colleagues Maseo and Posdnuos paid tribute to him shortly thereafter.
Problems with sample releases and her former label, Tommy Boy, which released De La Soul’s first six projects, prevented the albums from appearing legally online when the streaming boom took off. The group’s long-simmering feud with Tommy Boy boiled over in 2019, when De La Soul revealed the label intended to take the projects to streaming services and only give the band a 10% share of profits. The group urged fans not to stream the albums, and after a public backlash, Tommy Boy shelved the release.
Things took a positive turn in 2021 when Tommy Boy was bought by Reservoir in a $100 million acquisition of the defunct label. At the time, a Reservoir spokesman said it was a priority to get De La Soul’s long-lost albums back available to fans.
In addition to the streaming release, De La Soul will be reissuing her albums on physical media. Vinyl, CDs, cassettes and merchandise were introduced earlier this year. Physical editions of the albums will be distributed throughout the year – 3 Feet High & Rising is available to pre-order now and will be released on March 3rd.