It’s been nearly 11 years since the incomparable De La Soul have released a studio album – their last LP being 2004’s excellent The Grind Date. Outside of that, Pos, Dave and Maseo have delivered a mixtape in 2014 titled Smell The Da.I.S.Y., which featured production strictly from J Dilla.
In between releases here and there, there have been talks of the three preparing new material – including two new LPs and a mixtape.
One of those releases seems like it’s finally becoming reality, with Plugs 1, 2 and 3 rolling out a Kickstarter campaign (which has already surpassed their pledged goal of $110,000 with 27 days left to go).
De La Soul are also taking a unique approach with their music this time: the new album will sample everything from Jazz, Funk, Rock, Country Western and “anything else we’re feeling in the moment,” and they won’t have to pay any sampling royalty fees this go around (anyone who follows De La’s history knows they’ve been hit with countless lawsuits over sampling).
Instead, De La will be sampling themselves – thus eliminating the need for lawyers, “sample police” and all that jazz. In their words:
Over the last three years, we’ve collaborated with some of LA’s finest studio musicians and recorded them in free-styled, unrehearsed, jam sessions. They played everything from banjo to upright bass, sometimes up to a dozen musicians at once; simply allowing sounds to integrate. We did 90% of these recordings in one of LA’s most classic studios, Vox. We chose Vox because we wanted our recordings to have that creamy analog warm mixing board sound that the old records our parent’s once played had. With over 200 hours of sounds, and vibes, equal to about 250 to 300 full-length vinyl LPs, it’s time that we get to the work.
Here’s the interesting part. We are now in the process of going back to that 200+ hours of music, listening, enjoying and discovering those special moments where, musically, something magical happens, where interesting sounds and layers were forgotten, where new sounds can be sampled, looped, chopped, filtered and arranged, freely, without the intrusive presence of publishing politics and the infamous “sample police.” What we’ve done is created our own crates of records; album upon albums to mine and sample from. In our world, what we’ve created is freedom, freedom to make the art you believe in without having to compromise your vision. That’s what we’ve always wanted most, that’s what we’ve always believed in, that’s what we’ve fought for, and that’s why we’re doing this Kickstarter with you.
So far, they’ve gathered guest appearances from 2 Chainz, Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Little Dragon and more.
To find out more information and back this historical project, head over to their Kickstarter page and read through thoroughly. Be a part of history!
