New Deal Paves Way for Release of Hip Hop Icons De La Soul's Music to Streaming

 

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De La Soul is finally going digital.

After years of infighting between the hip hop trio and their label Tommy Boy, the group revealed Tuesday during an Instagram live session that its whole catalogue will be made available for streaming this year.

"We have finally come down to a deal between ourselves and Reservoir Media to release our music in 2021," group member Dave "Trugoy" Jolicoeur said. "Our catalog will be released this year, we are working diligently with the good folks at Reservoir, and we sat down with them and got it done pretty quickly actually."

Made up of Jolicoeur, Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer and Vincent "Maseo" Mason, De Las Soul were pioneers of alternative rap and prominent members of the so-called Native Tongues collective, along with A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers and others known for the positive Afrocentric lyrics, eclectic samples and jazz influenced beats. A 2006 collaboration with the Gorillaz on the single “Feel Good Inc.” earned it a Grammy.

De La Soul (Photo Courtesy Instagram: @wearedelasoul)

Reservoir acquired Tommy Boy — founded by Tom Silverman in New York in 1981 and instrumental in launching the careers of Afrika Bambaataa, Queen Latifah, Digital Underground and Naughty By Nature amongst others — in June for a deal valued at $100 million dollars.

The purchase proved fortunate for De La Soul, to an impasse in negotiations with Tommy Boy over streaming rights in 2019 after the label acquired the rights to its back catalogue from Warner Records. 

Up till then the latter’s reluctance to clear samples and renegotiate contracts, according to Posdnuos, had kept it from being made available to stream. Tommy Boy planned to remedy that, but the deal was unpalatable to De La Soul.

“I don’t know what [Tommy Boy’s] deals were with clearing samples, but back then a lot was probably done on a handshake, especially when you’re an independent [record label],” said De La Soul’s DJ Maseo during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning at the time. He added, "Now it’s 2019…but there are still some infractions around the catalog, things we’re sure aren’t cleared, that might have new potential issues. Also, what’s on the table [contractually] for De La Soul is unfavorable, especially based on the infractions that have taken place, the bills that exist over time. And we have continued to pay the price, and that’s one of our big concerns.”

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The pressure from De La Soul, its fans and celebrity supporters were enough to quash the effort, which was planned to coincide with the 30th anniversary of their debut “3 Feet High & Rising.”

Prolific Hip Hop Producer Chucky Thompson Dead at 53

The music world suffered a major loss Monday when it was confirmed by his publicist that Chucky

Thompson, who was responsible for some of the label’s biggest hits as one of Bad Boy Entertainment’s in-house production team known as the Hitmen, died at the age of 53.

Image source: Instagram (@chucklife365)

“It is with a very heavy heart that I can confirm the passing of Chucky Thompson,” Juda said in a statement posted on Twitter. “To anyone in his orbit, you know how generous he was with his energy, creativity and love. Both the music industry and the world has lost a titan.”

While no cause of death was released, AllHipHop.com reported he was battling COVID-19 when he died. If that holds true the Washington D.C. native, born Carl E. Thompson, is just the latest in a long list of notable musicians who have fallen victim to the virus including fellow hip hop standouts DJ Black N Mild, DJ Mike Huckaby and Fred the Godson.

Thompson helped shape the sound of a generation of hip hop in the 90s while working with Bad Boy, producing some of its biggest hits including Notorious B.I.G.’s signature jam “Big Poppa,” the Craig Mack classic “Flava in Ya Ear” and his production of Mary J. Blige’s second album and early opus “My Life” both started his career with the label and helped propel the singer to superstardom. 

He also helmed huge hits for Nas (“One Mic”), Usher “Think of You”) and TLC (“If I Was Your Girlfriend”) among others. 

Below is a playlist of some of the producer's greatest work:

Kool & The Gang Co-Founder Dennis 'Dee Tee' Thomas Dead at Age 70

Dennis “Dee Tee" Thomas, Kool & The Gang co-founder and the bands master of ceremonies at concerts, died “peacefully in his sleep” Saturday at his home in New Jersey, according to the Associated Press.

Courtesy of K.T.F.A. Entertainment Inc

Thomas, 70, was one of seven friends who created the seminal soul group. Along with brothers Ronald and Robert Bell, Spike Mickens, Ricky Westfield, George Brown and Charles Smith, he founded the Jazziacs in 1964, which would eventually become Kool & The Gang.

Under that moniker the group has enjoyed decades of success, particularly in the late 70s and early 80s when the ablums “Ladies' Night “(1979), “Celebrate!” (1980), and “Emergency” (1984) produced multiple high-charting hits including Billboard No. 1“Celebration," "Get Down on It," "Joanna,” "Misled" and "Cherish.”

Born February 9, 1951 in Orlando, Florida, Thomas was a saxophonist, flutist and percussionist. His last performance with Kool & The Gang came on July 4th of this year at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. He is the second member of the band to die in recent years. Ronald Bell died on September 9 of last year, aged 68.

Kool & the Gang has sold more than 70 million records worldwide according to the New Jersey Hall of Fame, released more than two dozen albums and won two Grammy Awards and seven American Music Awards.