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De La Soul are using Kickstarter to make their first album in 11 years

De La Soul are using Kickstarter to make their first album in 11 years

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Just me, myself, and a pledge goal of $110,000

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It's weirdly humbling to see De La Soul — that is, Posdnous, Dave, and Maseo — explain in the simplest terms who they are in a Kickstarter description. The hip-hop trio is legendary, even if they never found the same commercial success as their contemporaries. (Worst-case, you know them for their Grammy Award-winning work on the Gorillaz track, "Feel Good, inc.," but seriously, drop everything and listen to their back catalog.)

"For the first time, we're going to sample ourselves."

It's been 11 years since the group has released a studio record (mixtapes don't count), and they're funding it with Kickstarter. According to the page, the group has already recorded 200 hours worth of new samples, which will now form the basis of this album. "For the first time, we're going to sample ourselves," proclaims the page. (Some relevant history: In 1989, De La Soul was sued by sixties pop band the Turtles for using an uncleared sample from their song "You Showed Me." It was later settled out of court.) "They had to create a new kind of lawyer to sue us," quipped Masseo in the Kickstarter video.

Collaborators include Damon Albarn (Blur / Gorillaz), 2 Chainz, Little Dragon, and Talking Heads legend David Byrne, and the group promises more to come. The pledge rewards range from $5 "love bucks" (...) and $15 for a digital copy of the album all the way up to $10,000 that'll get you a lot, lot, lot of De La Soul.

The album's estimated delivery? September 2015.