Seun Kuti grabs De La Soul’s Posdnuos for the Grand Stand version of “Stand Well Well.” The single is from the deluxe version of his Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) album released last year. Pos adds another dimension to the song as the Native Tongue member meets Afrobeat royalty for a cross-cultural jam. He had this to say about the collaboration: “Seun is a powerful soul and it’s inspirational being around him whenever I have been. The song for me means to stand well rooted in agreeableness. Standing well rooted against the whirlwind of misery dressed up as entertainment online, as well as its powerful elixir of self-doubting. Standing focused to not fall for the trap of redundancy that being on social media can present.” As the youngest son of late Afrobeat architect Fela Kuti, Seun has made the same commitment as his father to use music for social change. 

Kamasi Washington, Alborosie, and Adi Oasis also have appearances on the deluxe edition of Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) which comes out May 28th on Record Kicks. Kuti is going on a tour of the United States in April with stops at Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Tickets for the tour that goes through more than 20 cities by the end of May are on sale now. 

Public Enemy, De La Soul, Cypress Hill, and more are scheduled to perform at Hip-Hop 101: From New York To The Bay, a one-day concert at Oakland Arena. The show takes its name from the role the artists played in hip-hop’s Golden Era. Dilated Peoples, Mistah F.A.B., and Too $hort are also slated to perform at the event, which takes place November 9th. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster and there is a special four-pack for $120, including fees. Public Enemy co-founder Flavor Flav B-Real of Cypress Hill made a statement about the show in a press release.

“I’m hyped for Public Enemy to come back to the Bay and bring the noise and everything we got for this legendary lineup of hip hop history. In just one day, people will get to see how far hip hop has come and how unlimited its artistry can be,” added PE co-founder Chuck D. “Prepare for minds to be blown by how every act on that stage will be bringing something different to the mix. But the common denominator is that we’re all going to rock the house,” he continued. B-Real of Cypress Hill declared, “We’re comin’ atcha, Oakland! The Hill and all of our brothers about to come through and smash the whole city up. Don’t miss this!”

Da Beatminerz share the video for their De La Soul, Rasheed Chapell, Pharoahe Monch,  and Corey Glover-assisted “My Year.” The ’90s star hip-hop production duo is releasing their first album in 20 years. Brothers Mr. Walt and DJ Evil Dee have spent more time producing for others including their seminal work with the Boot Camp Clik and Smif-N-Wessun. They worked outside of their Brooklyn crew producing beats for Nas, Eminem, Rah Digga, and others proving that they had much more up their sonic sleeves than the jazz-funk sound they debuted on Black Moon’s first album. The boom-bap architects were recently heard on an episode of Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga. “My Year” is the second single from Stifled Creativity and the video looks like a moving painting of all the artists. Mr. Walt explained how the single came together in a press release. 

“Been friends with De La since 88 and Monch since 87 so the relationship  was already there. I met them all at the record store I worked at (Music Factory in Jamaica, Queens) and this is the second song I did with both (De La “The Hustle” & Monch “Tight [REMIX]”). “My Year” was one of the first songs we worked on when we started the album and the order you hear them in is the order we made. It took a minute to get Dave’s vocals because of his health. When we got them, We were so grateful and  appreciative. He didn’t have to do the song but he came through & that the world to me.I met Rasheed through Kenny Dope. When I heard him, I automatically wanted to work with him, so when we put the blueprint together for the song, I knew he would fit perfectly. The icing on the cake was Corey Glover (Thanks to Guy Routte). Everything came together just how we wanted.” 

Stifled Creativity will be released on June 20th via Soulspazm. It can be pre-ordered, pre-saved, and streamed now.  

Dave Jolicoeur aka “Trugoy The Dove” of De La Soul died at age 54 on February 12th. De La Soul emerged with “Me, Myself and I” in 1989 and it set off the debate in rap about sampling and gave George Clinton’s career a second life thanks to their use of Funkadelic’s “(Not Just) Knee Deep.” Music critics and fans wondered if rap was really creative because sampling was thought of as simply taking from another artist. Prince Paul exclusively produced their debut album 3 Feet High & Rising and he showed how sampling was an art with a collage style that used eclectic sound sources. He also pioneered the usage of entertaining skits. The group’s positive image and distinct sound were in great contrast to the gangsta rap rising on the scene. They were mavericks that got labeled as hippies because they announced the D.A.I.S.Y. Age but their poetic swag was a nucleus for jazz-influenced hip-hop and what some music publications called progressive rap.

Their music was similar to the sounds of their Native Tongue posse which included like-minded artists including The Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, Black Sheep and Chi-Ali. 3 Feet High & Rising was the bohemian watershed moment in hip-hop and is acknowledged by fans and critics as one of the greatest and most influential albums in music. The group got better with their sophomore album De La Soul Is Dead and did one of the rarest things by addressing topics like crack addiction and child molestation. The group’s most recent album was their 2016 ninth studio album And The Anonymous Nobody.

Trugoy the Dove worked on Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz project in 2005 to co-write the song “Feel Good Inc.” The 2017 De La Soul Gorillaz collaboration on the song “Momentz” earned them their only Grammy. Trugoy publicly revealed his battle with heart failure in 2017. De La Soul had been in the news because of their dispute with Tommy Boy Records over the low payout for streaming their music. They finally came to an agreement and their catalog is scheduled to be available on various platforms on March 3, 2023.  De La Soul performed at The Grammys this year for the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop segment but Trugoy the Dove was not present.