De La Soul had the Hip Hop community in the palm of their hands when they finally released all their music on streaming platforms last year, and the entire process behind it has now been condensed into a documentary.
The group had a tough time getting its catalog up on DSPs due to sample clearance issues and a contractual dispute with their former label, Tommy Boy. After Reservoir Media acquired their discography as part of its $100 million acquisition of the imprint in 2021, the trio’s first six albums finally became available online once again via Chrysalis Records.
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On Tuesday (June 4), the New York outfit announced a new documentary that will explore their journey to rereleasing their beloved music.
“Chapter 3 chronicles the iconic studio sessions leading up to the 2023 re-release and remaster of De La Soul’s catalog, one of the most storied music collections in hip-hop,” they wrote on Instagram along with a teaser trailer.
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“These sessions marked the first time in almost three decades that Posdnuos, Dave, Maseo, and producer Prince Paul ventured into the same studio together in service of a De La Soul project.
“Chapter 3 captures the journey of these four grown men with a legacy to protect, as well as the memories and moments that helped them build it. The documentary provides an intimate look at the creative process, camaraderie, and passion that has defined De La Soul’s enduring legacy.”
Starting Friday (June 7), the movie will livestream across the world at different times and dates — scroll down for the full schedule.
After many years in limbo, De La Soul’s Tommy Boy-era recordings like 3 Feet High & Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate and the AOI series were finally made available to stream and purchase digitally in March 2023.
Deborah Mannis-Gardner, founder of DMG Clearances, was instrumental in securing the necessary sample clearances to make the rereleases possible.
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She spoke with HipHopDX about the labor of love in getting hundred of samples cleared and how that process enhanced her relationship with the group.
“It was Tommy Boy that oversaw the clearances for the first album and such,” the music business veteran said. “And they did clear a lot of samples, [but] they didn’t clear every sample. If you think back to the way we used to do things, in that era of time, drum beats, a lot of drum beats weren’t cleared, because they thought it wasn’t copyrightable.
“And it wasn’t until much later where people said, ‘Well, if you lifted it, you had to clear it, but if you replayed the drum, you didn’t necessarily.’ There were labels that would argue that in court. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost. There were no rules. We didn’t have a rule book.
“So, I don’t think there was ever malicious intent. I think people just did what they thought was supposed to be done back in those days.”
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Chapter 3 will be broadcast across the world on De La Soul’s YouTube, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages, as well as their official website. The itinerary is as follows:
June 7 — Los Angeles, CA @ 3 PM
June 8 — Sydney, Australia @ 3 PM
June 9 — Chicago, IL @ 3 PM
June 10 — London, UK @ 3 PM
June 11 — Paris, France @ 3 PM
June 12 — Seoul, South Korea @ 3 PM
June 13 — São Paulo, Brazil @ 3 PM
June 14 — New York, NY @ 3 PM
