Days ago, Talib Kweli announced that De La Soul had acquired the rights to all of their music.
On Tuesday, the group confirmed the news directly to fans. They also shared that their albums will soon be available across streaming platforms.
“We have finally come down to a deal between ourselves and Reservoir Media to release our music in 2021,” said David “Trugoy” Jolicoeur. “There’s a lot of backwork that needs to be done, so that’s why it’s taking a little time to get that out.”
The band says that fans can expect to be able to stream all of their albums in November.
During the livestream, the group insisted that they weren’t “bashing” Tommy Boy founder Tom Silverman. In 2019, Tommy Boy tried to bring the albums to streaming platforms. However, those plans were delayed after the group revealed that the record label would only agree to pay them 10% of the streaming royalties. De La Soul asked fans not to listen to their albums on streaming platforms.
Trugoy said that Tommy Boy eventually agreed on a 70% share but demanded 20% toward a “phantom debt” — saying the group owed the label $2 million.
The streaming plans then came to a screeching halt.
Things took a turn in a positive direction after Reservoir Media acquired Tommy Boy in a $100 million deal. The company vowed to right the label’s wrongs.
“We have already reached out to De La Soul and will work together to bring the catalog and the music back to the fans,” a label spokesperson told Variety at the time.
