De La Soul Raises $600,000 On Kickstarter For New Album

by JAY BALFOUR 

"We have also gained a clearer insight into how you feel about us as a group and what we do," De La wrote in a message to fans. 

After launching a Kickstarter campaign in March to fund their upcoming album, De La Soul have officially raised the second highest amount of money ever on the platform for a musical project. The group quickly reached their goal of $110,000 and when the funding period closed yesterday over 11,000 supporters had pledged a collective $600,875.

The album, which will be the first for the group in over a decade, is set to include appearances from 2 Chainz, Little Dragon, Damon Albarn, and David Byrne.

“Thank you so much to all of you for rewarding us with your time and help!!" the group said in a message to fans. "We have not only become the second most funded music project on Kickstarter, but we have also gained a clearer insight into how you feel about us as a group and what we do. You have helped directly play a part in giving us the much needed creative fuel by showing that we still matter to all of you! In knowing that we feel nothing less than number 1!!! Much love and this music is coming your way soon!! ‪#‎thankyou‬ ‪#‎blessed‬ ‪#‎delasoul‬”

In the original Kickstarter campaign, De La promised an alternative return to their sampling ways by reworking original recordings made specifically for the album. "This new album will incorporate elements of Jazz, Funk, Rock, Country Western and anything else we're feeling in the moment," the group wrote at the time. "To us, music is the influence of sounds, sounds in all vibrations and sizes, telling a story or pointing a direction. Some of these sounds we call samples, samples we use to make songs."