De La Soul Is Documented

Love 'em, hate 'em, or leave 'em alone, De La Soul have throughout their career been nothing if not divisive, and the critical response to their new album seems to be in keeping with that pattern. Whatever your thoughts about and the Anonymous Nobody, the Monster Energy-"fueled," J. Anders Urmacher-directed film, We're Still Here (now)... a documentary about nobody, provides valuable insight into the creative and commercial processes that went into the making of De La's first album in 12 years. The documentation doesn't stop there, though. Earlier today, Mass Appeal posted the trailer to De La Soul Is Not Dead, a short film that "not only looks into the history of De La Soul, but also explores the nagging legal and sample clearance issues that has prevented them from releasing their classic albums such as De La Soul Is Dead (1991) and Stakes is High (1996) on digital platforms like iTunes, Apple Music, or Spotify." The film comes out Wednesday, September 7, but you can learn more about the aforementioned issues from Finn Cohen's New York Times August 8 article, "De La Soul's Legacy Is Trapped in Digital Limbo."