De La Soul Classic “Buddy (Native Tongue Decision)” Is Now Available to Stream

Look no further – the long-awaitedDe La Soul remix single “Buddy (Native Tongues Decision)” has hit streaming services. Featuring A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah and Monie Love, the single was originally on the 12” vinyl release of “Buddy” with a new beat from longtime DSL producer Prince Paul. On its DSP version, “Buddy (Native Tongues Decision”) appears alongside “Eye Know” and “The Magic Number,” a favorite amongst Spider-Man: No Way Homefans.

De La Soul’s back catalog came to streamers in March, including their 1989 debut 3 Feet High and Rising, 1991’s De La Soul Is Dead, 1993’s Buhloone Mindstate, and 1996’s Stakes Is High. An Amazon-sponsored live event followed, but Suzanne Arrabito, VP of Marketing at Reservoir Media revealed to Okayplayer that “Buddy (Native Tongues Decision)” “was never part of the initial rollout plan.” Still, Arrabito shared hopes to “make it available in the future,” and thus, its release is here.

The Native Tongues were an East Coast music collective that existed from 1988 to the late ‘90s, composed of De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, ATCQ, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Black Sheep and Chi Ali. Those affiliated with the crew included Brand Nubian, Common, The Pharcyde, Leaders of the New School and more, but Native Tongues would never release an album while they were active.

“I think that it's kind of funny how people create this big thing about, 'Native Tongues, Native Tongues,' when it only really stems off of one record, nothing more than that,” late DSL member, Trugoy the Dovetold Rock the Bells in an article published in June. “Maybe identifying that it was a real relationship, a true friendship, a true connection. But musically, the successful end of that, all we really got to hold onto is 'Buddy.'”