nxne bonus series HipHop

Soul decision

Hiphop legends or not, De La Soul will be just like any other struggling group playing NXNE.

After a string of classic albums, the Long Island trio are now without a contract for the first time in almost 15 years. Barely three months after the fall release of their highly praised Bionix album, De La's long-time label, Tommy Boy, folded. A subsequent deal with Elektra ended abruptly, when they were dropped almost as quickly as they were signed.

"The experience left us disappointed because we'd been at Tommy Boy so long," De La MC Dave says from Norway. They play the NXNE bonus series, which includes the Indigo Girls, Beth Orton and Unwritten Law. "You'd have thought they'd let us know what was going on. We found out on the day the company was folding.

"It's a tense situation, but it's also cool. We have lots of options for our next project. We have a fan base and we don't have to answer to anyone else. It doesn't matter whether you're a legendary group or not. This industry is ruled by dollars and cents, so from that perspective, it's good to be free."