Talib Kweli Says De La Soul Finally Owns The Rights To Their Music

Talib Kweli revealed that De La Soul now owns the rights to their music.

BYCole Blake
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Talib Kweli says that De La Soul now owns the rights to their music after years of not have control of their catalog. He did not confirm if their albums would appear on streaming services.

"Ladies and gentlemen I spoke to @djmaseo from the legendary @wearedelasoul today and it's official... after years of being taken advantage by the recording industry in the worst possible ways, De La Soul now owns all the rights to their masters and is in full control of the amazing music they have created," Kweli wrote, Saturday night. "Let's salute Plugs 1, 2 and 3 for sticking to their guns and showing us that we can all beat the system if we come together as a community. Let's hear it for black ownership of black art! Congratulations fellas..."

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The group's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, is widely considered one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, but a younger audience has been unable to stream the project as it has been kept off of streaming services. Earlier this year, Reservoir Media acquired Tommy Boy, which owned De La Soul's back catalog, for $100 million. The company has said they are working to get the music online.

Check out Kweli's announcement below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSS5Pk_FOcL


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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.