Kobalt Label Services Signs Agreement with Iconic Hip-hop Trio, De La Soul

Kobalt Label Services (KLS) announced today that it has concluded a worldwide, multi-year deal with the ingenious American hip-hop trio, De La Soul. The agreement is in support of De La Soul’s new album, And The Anonymous Nobody, which will be independently released on their own label, AOI Records. The global deal includes exclusive digital and physical distribution and synch representation on the masters. There will be worldwide representation and product management support through Kobalt Label Services in multiple territories.

De La Soul member, Vincent Mason, commonly known as, "Maseo," said, "I'm highly anticipating this relationship with Kobalt. After doing so much research with our team I think this is the best situation for this project based on its history and enthusiasm to help us face all the challenges in today's industry."

Brandon Hixon, member of De La Soul’s management team, said, “This is the perfect home for De La Soul and AOI Records. Kobalt operates with complete transparency and has built the tools for us to harness all the data we could ever ask for.” Hixon continued, “It’s all about the portal, the real time reporting is amazing; Kobalt is the future of music.”

Richard Sanders, President of Kobalt, said, “De La Soul has established itself as one of the most widely acclaimed hip-hop groups of all time. With three decades of recording history, they have deep-seeded roots in the music industry and a reputation for creating ambitious, eclectic music that has pushed the boundaries of hip-hop and popular music. Kobalt is excited to partner with them and make music history together.”

Of the deal, Sarah Landy, General Manager of AWAL (Kobalt Label Services), North America, said, “It is a tremendous honor to have De La Soul with Kobalt Label Services for the release of their new album; And the Anonymous Nobody is an outstanding body of work, and we are thrilled to push it out globally on De La Soul’s label in tune with their creative vision.”

The creation of And The Anonymous Nobody has been several years in the making. De La Soul wanted to make another sample-based album in the vein of 3 Feet High and Rising. In order to do so, they spent a few years recording more than 300 hours of live music, converging everything from bossa nova, soul and hip-hop to funk, disco and reggae. They essentially created the instrumental albums from which they would dig and sample. The features-based record is being mixed by Bob Power, Morgan Garcia and De La Soul, and was produced by De La Soul and Dave West. The body of work is a concept and continuous story, even down to the transitions of songs with sound effects and instrumentals. The group’s Kickstarter campaign, which ran for 33 days in May 2015, garnered more than 11K backers and an impressive $600K in funding, making it the second most successful in the platform's history.

De La Soul formed as a trio in 1987 on Long Island, New York in their hometown of Amityville. Known for their experimentation and collaboration of various sounds from traditional hip-hop to and jazz-rap, they released their first album in 1989 entitled, 3 Feet High and Rising and it was a critical hit in the hip-hop industry. They won tremendous respect within their genre and across the music industry at large. Their famous track, "Me, Myself and I" landed a spot on the Top 40 U.S. hits, was number one on the R&B charts and the album went gold. Since the early days, the band has produced several albums such as De La Soul Is Dead and Art Official Intelligence and collaborated with cross-genre groups like Gorillaz and Yo La Tengo. The band continues to play a large role in contemporary music and culture. The past year has certainly shown that De La Soul’s fans are engaged and wanting more, while new discovery for the group should also be ripe, considering the revival of 90s era hip-hop in recent years.