De La Soul Eyes Legal Action Over ‘High and Rising’ Biography
Legendary hip-hop collective De La Soul may pursue legal action following the release of High and Rising: A Book About De La Soul, which the group has called an “unauthorized” account of their life story.
The book, penned by Marcus J. Moore and released on November 19, is Moore’s latest work following his acclaimed 2020 novel The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America.
Moore described his new project as a celebration of De La Soul’s legacy, calling the group “Black history, American history, world history.” However, just days after its release, De La Soul publicly denounced the book on social media.
In a detailed Instagram post, the group shared an image of the book with a bright red prohibition symbol stamped over the cover, writing: “We want to make it absolutely clear: this is an unauthorized book, and we are not connected to it in any way.” The group also assured fans that their story would eventually be told “in our words, in our way.”
Addressing their followers directly, the “Me Myself and I” hitmakers stated: “If you choose to support this book, that’s your right,” while clarifying, “We just want it to be clear that we do not [support it], and we are exploring all of our legal options.”
De La Soul also criticized the omission of the symbolic “3” from the book’s title, a number central to their identity, writing: “Even within this book’s title, the ‘3’ is missing...‘3’ will always be the magic number.”
Fans quickly flooded the comments section with mixed reactions. Some expressed solidarity with the group, while others defended Moore’s intentions.
De La Soul ended by teasing exciting news for their supporters, hinting at “something special for Spring 2025” and promising more “authentic” projects from the iconic New York City collective.
