Sadly, it doesn't seem as though De La Soul will reap the benefits of their albums getting the upload to streaming services. It was reported over the weekend, that De La Soul only stands to recuperate a meager 10% from all profits generated off streams, due to a clause enacted by Tommy Boy Records, who owns the publishing rights for the group's catalog.
On the latest episode of Joe Budden's State of the Culture, airing on Revolt TV, the rapper turned cultural critic shared his views on the subject with a panel including the likes of Scottie Beam, Jinx and Remy Ma.
Together they broached subjects ranging from Queen Latifah's investment in the municipality of Newark, New Jersey, all the way to Kanye West's incredulous Sunday Service performance(s), finally landing upon the issue De La Soul doggone struggle with Tommy Boy Records at about the 1:11:45 mark of the above video.
Joe Budden begins by rehashing the trouble De La Soul endured coming out the gate when their "Transmitting Live From Mars" sample hit the pavement causing a lengthy and painstaking legal battle with 60s pop-rock outfit the Turtles.
"I’m teary because that’s just depressing to hear, but they sell us depression," Joe began saying. "When you think of the stories being the same for this amount of years. Like when you look at De La telling you their battles from 30 years ago."
After which, Joe Budden, taking sole control of the discussion, really let his anger get the best of him. “I was really angry when I was watching that interview and they said ‘Tommy Boy gave f**k deals to everybody, but it was the only place where we could have creative control." Budden then professed real indignation for Def Jam, due to the fact they allegedly did nothing to rectify the situation, and find a solution orientated towards both parties: Tommy Boy & De La Soul alike.
Collective-speaking, the four hosts concluded that De La Soul's predicament was indeed "unfair" before moving on to a segment dedicated to the musical releases of the week, among them Summer Walker, Solange, T-Pain, 2 Chainz and more.