De La Soul Drops Trailer for Documentary About Putting Catalog on Streaming

Legendary rap group De La Soul worked for years to get their influential music catalog on streaming services. Sample clearances and disputes with their old label Tommy Boy kept their albums off DSPs up until recently. It wasn’t until Reservoir Media purchased Tommy Boy as part of a $100 million acquisition that the group’s music finally became available digitally. The group and Reservoir Media worked tirelessly to format the group’s first six albums for streaming, and the new documentary Chapter 3 chronicles that journey.

The group released the statement below on their Instagram page: “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. 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.”

Reservoir president Rell Lafargue had this to say when speaking on the new partnership:

“Over the past 18 months, we have worked tirelessly with De La Soul, maintaining a heightened attention to honoring the group’s original musical details, including bringing Prince Paul and the original team to the studio to prepare the catalog for streaming.”

De La Soul’s catalogue became available on music streaming platforms March 2023 and they immediately racked up 12 million streams.

Chapter 3 will livestream on De La Soul’s YouTube, Facebook and X pages, as well as their official website in different time zones starting Friday, June 7.

Check out the dates and times below.

June 7 — Los Angeles, 3 p.m.
June 8 — Sydney, 3 p.m.
June 9 — Chicago, 3 p.m.
June 10 — London, 3 p.m.
June 11 — Paris, 3 p.m.
June 12 — Seoul, 3 p.m.
June 13 — São Paulo, 3 p.m.
June 14 — New York City, 3 p.m.

Seeing Plug 1, Plug 2 and Plug 3 together in the studio with Prince Paul is going to be special.