De La Soul says its embrace of the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform is leading to a charged record.
“The new record is turning out to be an album of great spirit,” De La Soul writes on Medium.com. “An album of not just beats and rhymes, but songs with well crafted stories and thought. Unconventional arrangements with mismatched features that fit perfectly within our world of ‘no rules allowed.’ There’s a rock song, a country western song, a garage band melodic adventure, a drum machine masterpiece, a sad song, a serious song, a funny song. In other words, there is everything on this album. It’s going to be an adventure. We’re looking to release it in September.”
The upcoming LP, And The Anonymous Nobody, achieved its fundraising goal in nine hours, far exceeding group expectations.
“We had humbly asked for $110,000, hoping we would not only reach that goal, but also exceed it by the end of the campaign,” the group says in the article. “So to reach the financial goal within the first nine hours of launch was absolutely astonishing. By the time we reached half-a-million dollars, it left us feeling joyous about the possibilities for this project.”
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De La Soul was unsure of the idea of crowdfunding at first. The group thought it might come off as beggars.
“At first, I honestly wasn’t sure if this would be the correct path to take,” De La Soul says. “We were not sure if people would feel like we were begging for money, or just be turned off that a well-established group was taking part in crowdfunding. But after taking some time, looking into Kickstarter, speaking to artists who have launched campaigns themselves, as well as fans that have backed them, we saw that a large percentage of our fan base were very aware of the crowdfunding platform. We also saw that there were other established entertainers, musicians, and authors who had connected with their fans via Kickstarter and launched successful campaigns.”
De La Soul, who writes under the name Pos in the article, says they did not feel belief from the labels.
“There was still a growing concern for how the creative aspect of this project would be nurtured and allowed to grow within the test tube of a label.,” Mercer says. “Let us also not forget that the amount of an advance that a label gives to you speaks volumes of their financial belief in your project. We honestly weren’t sure what a label would be willing to give us. Eventually crowdfunding was brought to the table.”
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De La Soul plans to tour off of their upcoming album.
