Music from LI's De La Soul will finally be available for streaming

After years of combative relations with its former record label, the iconic Long Island hip-hop trio De La Soul says its back catalog of music will at last be available to stream.

"We have finally come down to a deal between ourselves and Reservoir Media to release our music in 2021," said Dave "Trugoy" Jolicoeur, 52, in an Instagram and Facebook video Tuesday, appearing with fellow group members Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer and Vincent "Pasemaster Mase" Mason. Reservoir Media in June acquired the group's previous label, Tommy Boy Music, with which De La Soul had cut ties two years ago after a fruitless seven-month negotiation over royalty percentages and sampling clearances.

"So our catalog will be released this year," Jolicoeur continued. "We're trying to work hard and diligently along with the good folks up at Reservoir to get this done. We sat down and we got it done pretty quickly, actually. It was kind of impressive how fast we got it done — maybe in two weeks' time, tops. Totally different approach than what was happening with Tommy Boy, and I'm not speaking to bash [founder] Tom Silverman or Tommy Boy in any way, but we are happy that that chapter's over and done with and we're looking forward to our relationship with Reservoir Media, which is awesome, man."

He added, "It's going to take a minute, a little minute, November, but all that music will be available to you all."

Following its acquisition of Tommy Boy in June, Reservoir told Variety in a statement, "We have already reached out to De La Soul and will work together to the bring the catalog and the music back to the fans." On Tuesday, Reservoir posted a blue heart and "@wearedelasoul" across its social media.

Under the rallying cry "Don't press play," De La Soul in 2019 began spearheading a boycott of Tommy Boy, with support from top names in hip-hop. The group had explained on social media that Tommy Boy would only release De La Soul's catalog to streaming platforms for an inequitable 90/10 royalty split in the label's favor.

Tommy Boy's social media has not been updated since shortly before its acquisition by Reservoir, and Silverman has made no public comment. The Grammy Award-winning De La Soul's six studio albums from Tommy Boy include the group’s platinum-record debut, "3 Feet High and Rising" (1989), and its gold follow-up, "De La Soul Is Dead" (1991).

The group members formed De La Soul as teens in Amityville. They threw rap-battle parties at a Dixon Avenue room they called The Dugout, and coalesced as an innovative force in hip-hop, eschewing old-school gangsta aesthetics for work that melded genres from soul to psychedelia.

One of the first notable groups to sample from other artists' music, De La Soul figured in a landmark lawsuit with the band The Turtles that paved the way for formally licensing samples.