De La Soul has announced that they’re planning on going back to their roots and collaborating again with the producer of their first three albums, Prince Paul.
In a new interview with AllHipHop, group member Maseo said: “We are working with Prince Paul again. It feels right.”
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It’s unclear whether Paul will be working on the group’s long-gestating third volume of their Art Official Intelligence series; a planned collaborative project with Mass Appeal featuring a number of veteran rappers, producers and DJs as guests; or something else entirely.
Earlier this year, De La announced they are digging into their vaults to release a rare EP from the mid-1990s boasting a collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest.
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On January 10, the legendary rap group announced plans to give Clear Lake Audiotorium, a four-track EP originally distributed in 1994, an official release later this year.
“Originally pressed in 1994 as an exclusive promotional release for select DJs, Clear Lake Audiotorium has achieved near-mythical status among collectors,” they wrote on Instagram.
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“The album includes four tracks from the Buhloone Mindstate era, with two rare collaborations: ‘sh.Fe.Mc’s’ featuring A Tribe Called Quest and ‘Stix & Stonz’ with contributions from Tito of The Fearless Four, Grandmaster Caz, L.A. Sunshine of the Treacherous Three and Prince Whipper Whip.”
The original version, of which only 500 copies were pressed, contained six songs in total, most of which also appeared on Buhloone Mindstate including “Patti Dooke,” “In the Woods” and “I Be Blowin,’”
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Clear Lake Audiotorium hit streaming services on March 7 and will also be available on both digital and physical formats.
The EP was just the latest De La Soul project to be rereleased commercially.
In 2023, several of the group’s classic albums — including 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate and Stakes Is High — were made available digitally for the very first time.
Much of their early catalog had been kept off streaming due to sample clearance issues and a long-running legal dispute with their former label, Tommy Boy Records.
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An agreement was finally reached in 2021 when Reservoir Media — the music company that has also struck similar deals with the Snoop Dogg-owned Death Row Records and Mannie Fresh — acquired Tommy Boy for $100 million.
The rerelease of their albums was bittersweet for the Long Island trio, however, as it came just shortly after the passing of founding member David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur.
