De La Soul ‘Gangsta Grillz’ On The Way, Says DJ Drama

While De La Soul fans are still mourning the sudden loss of Trugoy The Dove, they have new music to look forward to as DJ Drama has revealed that a Gangsta Grillz with the group is on the way.

In a new interview with the Rap Radar podcast, Dram casually slipped in a gem that he’s working on the mixtape with the group amid discussing his ability to remain a cross-generational talent.

“De La Soul’s coming to streaming. I can’t be more excited,” Dram began. “And we got a Gangsta Grillz coming! Little sidebar.” No other details were revealed.

Check out DJ Drama’s big revelation below:

watch @DJDRAMA speak on adapting & announces De La Soul Gangsta Grillz mixtape. #RapRadarPodcasthttps://t.co/xHgoOlN3mnpic.twitter.com/3OzDNsw3rO

— Rap Radar (@RapRadar) March 16, 2023

It looks like Drama manifested the upcoming collaboration, after planting the seed for the tape in the comments section of a De La Instagram Live back in August 2021.

The group hopped on Instagram Live in August 2021 to talk about their then newly acquired catalog. Over 3,000 people tuned in to celebrate the good news, many of them friends of the legendary Hip Hop trio. The Beat Junkies’ DJ Rhettmatic, J. PERIOD and Questlove were among the many who chimed in with celebratory comments.

But DJ Drama’s comment stood out among the rest. “Let’s do a De La Gangsta Grillz!” he wrote with excitement, although De La didn’t directly respond to the generous offer. Instead, they continued to talk about the relief they felt after years of failed negotiations, stress and emotional turmoil.

After a long delay and legal battle, De La Soul’s first six albums — 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump and AOI: Bionix — arrived on streaming platforms on March 3 this year, joining the rest of their discography.

De La Soul 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. Things looked up, however, after Reservoir Media acquired its discography as part of its $100million acquisition of Tommy Boy in 2021. Reservoir Media will distribute De La Soul’s catalog via Chrysalis Records.

To commemorate the music’s arrival on streaming platforms, the group gathered in New York City for a celebration the same night. Dubbed The D.A.I.S.Y. Experience, the bittersweet event — which also commemorated the life and legacy of Trugoy The Dove – went down at Webster Hall and some of rap’s biggest stars stopped by to pay their respects.

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DJ Drama has a lot on the slate in addition to De La Soul’s forthcoming tape. The Philly native is also hard at work on a highly-anticipated mixtape with Pusha T, and in February said the project will easily be a Grammys contender.

“The Pusha T Gangsta Grillz definitely gonna be spicy,” he told Complex on the red carpet at the 2023 Grammy Awards. “I feel like it could potentially be the next mixtape to win a Grammy.”

Pusha T and DJ Drama formally announced the mixtape in December, telling Rap Radar‘s Brian “B. Dot” Miller that the project was officially on the way. Additionally, Push spoke about the tape in an interview with XXL, calling it “special.”

“I’m working on a special mixtape,” he said, before explaining why he wanted to drop a Gangsta Grillz mixtape at this point in his career.

“To have the fun I want to have,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is restore the feeling in every aspect of this subgenre of music. And just of this cloth, of this taste level.”

He added: “I’m just trying to make people realize how viable this is. To show people that I can’t do what you do, but you definitely can’t do what I do. I have to show those differences. That’s the whole premise behind the mixtape.”

Juelz Santana and Fivio Foreign have also teased their own Gangsta Grillz projects, as have Lloyd Banks, Dave East and Vado, who are collectively known as The Council.