De La Soul's Maseo said that De La Soul's third installment of the Artificial Intelligence series will be released independently, through his Bear Mountain Entertainment label.

After splitting with Tommy Boy when the label folded, it was reported that the group had inked a four album deal with Elektra.

The group is not signed to Elektra, but will come out independently. A distribution arrangement has yet to be finalized.

Last year, Pos told AllHipHop.com that label had inked a four album deal with Elektra and said that AOI 3 may see the light of day via the internet, but that the group was working on different album for Elektra.

In a recent interview with the Miami Herald, Maseo, who lives and works out of Boca Raton, Florida, said that he was looking forward to the challenge of being independent.

''It's the best feeling in the world,'' Maseo said. "With the turn of the industry and the Internet absorbing a lot of the record sales, it's the best thing that could have happened in my career."

"It was great to wear the Tommy Boy jersey, but now we're playing for our own," he continued. "From the business perspective, we get to see more of a return on our music.''

(I, for one, am very glad to hear that Artofficial Intelligence 3 is going to be release 'cause I loved the first installments - Rob)