DeLaSoul
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De La Soul releases crowdfunded 'and the Anonymous Nobody' album
Like many Kickstarter projects, the new De La Soul album took a lot longer to arrive than promised, but now it's here. Originally scheduled for release in September 2015, the group's new project carefully avoids the sample clearance hell that has kept their previous work offline. This time, the samples come from jam sessions they recorded with LA-area musicians, keeping the rights in-house. The 17-track and the Anonymous Nobody album features collaborations with Pete Rock, 2 Chainz, Snoop Dogg, Damon Albarn (of Gorillaz), Little Dragon, Estelle and a number of other well-known artists.
De La Soul's samples are why its classic albums stay offline
Have you wondered why De La Soul is more than happy to offer its newer albums online, but has had so much trouble getting its classics (Stakes Is High and earlier) online that it gave them away at one point? You now have a good, if imperfect, explanation. Their label, Warner Music Group, tells the New York Times that its staff "don't believe it is possible" to clear all the samples in early tracks for digital music services. It doesn't explain why those samples are being held back, but the group's current sample clearance agent suspects that many of those samples may have been cleared improperly, sometimes through informal agreements. It's also possible that many of the sample deals didn't account for non-physical releases, so Warner might have to start from scratch.
Relax: De La Soul's album's already smashed its Kickstarter goal
De La Soul love sampling, so much so that they feel as if a whole branch of copyright law was invented just for them. The sample-heavy trio (for three is the magic number) didn't want to have to compromise their artistic vision for their ninth album, so took to Kickstarter to ask for your cash. It didn't take long before the group smashed its $110,000 crowdfunding goal, and so the new De La Soul album will find its way into mailboxes this September.
De La Soul can't sell their old music online yet, so they're giving it away for one day only
While internet music services promise limitless shelves full of songs for purchase from iTunes and Amazon or streaming from Spotify, Pandora and the rest, there are a few holes in the catalog. De La Soul's unique brand of hip-hop is among the missing tracks -- even after long holdouts like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles have gone digital -- owing to label and sample clearance issues, but that problem is about to be fixed. The group tells Rolling Stone that its entire catalog will be available for download tomorrow, for 25 hours starting at 11AM ET. According to group member Posdnous, "Its been too long where our fans haven't had access to everything," despite a "trying" journey to wrangle all the clearance details. Serving as a celebration for the 25th anniversary of its debut album 3 Feet High and Rising (and timely promotion for the upcoming EP Preemium Soul on the Rocks and album You're Welcome,), it should help fans fill in the hole left by long-discarded CDs and tapes. The tracks will appear on wearedelasoul.com, set the bookmark and your alarm now for a mid-Valentine's Day present to your ears tomorrow.
De La Soul does Parappa, "U Gotta Believe"
GameSetWatch stumbled upon something special on YouTube: American rap group De La Soul performing a song titled "U Gotta Believe" for the Japanese release of Parappa the Rapper 2. Two Parappa music videos in less than a month? This is what nerd Heaven must be like.See also:The intro to the short-lived Japanese Parappa anime series.
