June 26th 2023.
De La Soul's fight for the rights to their music was a long and arduous path, and one that played out publicly. After years of negotiation and hard work, the legendary Long Island hip-hop group was finally granted the rights to their music by Reservoir, which had acquired the rights from their former record label Tommy Boy Records.
In an interview with "Drink Champs," DJ Maseo recalls the difficulty of the journey and admits to almost "buckling" under the pressure. Prior to Reservoir's acquisition, De La Soul's music was not available on any streaming services. After the acquisition was complete and Reservoir had finished negotiating with the trio, it was announced that De La Soul's music would be available on all major streaming platforms beginning in early 2023.
Unfortunately, along with the good news for the group came the sad announcement that Trugoy the Dove had passed away.
Maseo and Posdnous, the two remaining members of De La Soul, appeared on N.O.R.E. and DJ Efn's podcast to discuss their journey to regaining the rights to their catalog. During the discussion, Maseo admitted that there were moments when he almost caved, but the group persevered and now the catalog is streaming extremely well on different platforms.
"Yeah, we're humble guys, but I know my value," Maseo told the two co-hosts. "I've been playing this game since high school, and it's been on-the-job training. And behind it all, this was the moment in time I had to really take on my leadership in the crew. There were times where I almost buckled. I almost buckled a few times," he said.
The catalog was finally made available on all streaming platforms on March 3rd, 2023, which happened to be the 34th anniversary of the group's debut album. It was a bittersweet victory for the group, and a testament to their strength and resilience in the face of adversity.
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