News : Author responds to criticism from De La Soul: “They were quite literally judging a book by its cover”

The author of a De La Soul biography has said the group “literally judged a book by its cover” when they publicly criticised it.

Music journalist Marcus J. Moore published High And Rising in November, a book that explores the history of the iconic New York City rap trio. It was the first cultural biography ever written about the group.

However, shortly after its release, De La Soul released a statement that sharply distanced themselves from the book and threatened legal action against it.

“We want to make it absolutely clear: this is an unauthorised book, and we are not connected to it in any way,” they said. “If you choose to support this book, that’s your right. We just want it to be clear that we do not and we are exploring all of our legal options. Even within this book’s title, the “3” Is missing which shows how inauthentic it is because for us, “3” will always be the magic number.”

Now, Moore has spoken out for the first time on the incident, in an interview on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast.

“It was disappointing, because they were quite literally judging a book by its cover, without having read the book,” he said.

He continued that he felt “betrayed”, adding: “I wanted to say something publicly, but then I realised, oh, I don’t have to say anything because my name is out here doing all the work.”

Moore went on to say that he had in fact regularly reached out to the group while writing the book, and also explained that he has some sympathy for why they reacted negatively to its existence.

“When you’ve been fighting against an industry for 35 years, then naturally, yes, anybody coming along that you feel is trying to take from your legacy or whatever, you’re naturally gonna make them the enemy,” he said.

In other news, De La Soul have confirmed that they will be releasing their rare 1994 EP ‘Clear Lake Auditorium’, which features A Tribe Called Quest, on March 7. You can get your copy here.

They will also be performing a pay-what-you-want concert at New York City’s Lincoln Center, their first hometown show for 16 months, this Friday (January 17). Any remaining tickets can be purchased here.