De La Soul 'Exploring Legal Options' After Publishing 'Unauthorized' Book.

New York hip-hop veteran De La Soul has slammed a new book about the trio, taking to social media to tell fans they are “exploring” legal options in the wake of its publication.

The book in question is High And Rising: A Book About De La SoulPosted by writer Marcus J. Moore on Tuesday (November 19). Moore, who had published previously The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America in 2020 is described his decision to write about the group as stemming from a desire to talk about “subjects that are somewhat—if not completely—undervalued in the literary realm.”

“The first book on De La Soul, High and Rising shows that De La Soul is black history, American history, world history, our history,” the book's synopsis reads. “This is a story about staying the course and how staying true to your virtue can lead to powerful results.”

However, the subject of the volume itself has since denounced its release, with De La Soul noting “they want to make it absolutely clear: this is an unauthorized book and we are not affiliated with it in any way.”

“For years, you've stood with us in our fight for ownership of our catalog and the right to profit from the music we've created. That same dedication to protecting what is ours extends to being the ones telling OUR story—something deeply personal and 'De La' to the core,” they wrote. “Our story will be told in our words, in our way, in the style you've come to know and love. Until then, we encourage you to indulge in the authentic DA.ISY Era by supporting projects supported by us.

“If you choose to support this book, that is your right. We just want to be clear that we are not doing that and we are exploring all of our legal options. Even in the title of this book, the '3' is missing, which shows how authentic it is because for us, '3' will always be the magic number.”

De La Soul's post closed by noting that they're “cooking up something special for Spring 2025,” with many fans in the comments section asking to reconsider their decision and sharing support for Moore and his work.

Formed in 1988, De La Soul quickly rose to fame in 1989 with the release of their debut album, 3 feet tall and risingwhich peaked at No. 15 at Bulletin board 200 and has since been considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.

The group released their ninth album, And Anonymous Nobody…in 2016, reaching No. 9 and was their last record to date. Founding member Trugoy the Dove (aka Dave Jolicoeur) died in 2023, just weeks before the trio's protracted battle to bring their catalog to streaming ended.