Talib Kweli happily revealed that De La Soul finally “owns all the rights to their masters” for the first time in years.
Taking to Instagram to make the announcement, he shared that he received confirmation from Maseo himself. “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. “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…”
Earlier this June, it was reported that Reservoir Media “already reached out to De La Soul and will work together to the bring the catalog and the music back to the fans.” The company previously acquired the catalog of Tommy Boy Records — the original label De La Soul was signed to — for a whopping $100 million USD.
Congrats!
