Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Download De La Soul's entire back catalogue for free

The hip-hop trio have offered their complete discography to fans for 25 hours

Jess Denham
Friday 14 February 2014 08:28 EST
Comments
Much of De La Soul's reportoire is not legally available online but, for Valentine's Day, fans can download it all for free
Much of De La Soul's reportoire is not legally available online but, for Valentine's Day, fans can download it all for free (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

In a Valentine’s gesture to their fans, hip-hop trio De La Soul are making their entire back catalogue available for free online.

For 25 hours, listeners can download the band’s music to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, released in 1989.

"Check back on Valentine's Day at 11am EST for some de la love," a message on the official De La Soul website read.

Much of De La Soul’s seven album repertoire is not usually available online (or at least, not legally), as the many samples used on their tracks are difficult to license. As a result, most of the group’s music is not for sale on digital retail stores such as iTunes.

“It’s about allowing our fans who have been looking and trying to get a hold of our music to have access to it,” MC Posdnuos told Rolling Stone. “It’s been too long where our fans haven’t had access to everything. This is our way of showing them how much we love them.”

Some brand new tunes are expected to appear on De La Soul’s website later this year in the form of their first LP in ten years, You're Welcome. “We’re just getting in the mode of constantly giving people new music,” said Posdnuos. “We’ve sat a long time without releasing an album. It’s high time we start releasing a bunch of stuff because it’s there.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in