De La Soul, Common, Others Join For "Spitkicker Tour"

De La Soul, Common, Biz Markie, Pharaohe Monch and Reflection Eternal featuring Talib Kweli will join forces for the "Spitkicker Tour," which is scheduled to run from late June through early August. Rather than featuring individual acts, the Spitkicker shows will consist of a single performance featuring all of the acts, plus a special guest in each city.

De La Soul plans to launch a new official website at spitkicker.com this summer, and will release a new album, "Art Official Intelligence" (Tommy Boy), on July 18. The new album is the first installment of a planned trilogy, and features guest appearances from the Beastie Boys, Redman, Chaka Khan, the Liks, Xzibit and others. The album originally was scheduled to be released in late 1999, but was delayed so that Busta Rhymes could be included on some tracks.

Chicago native Common is the only act on the bill without New York roots, but his style is heavily influenced by the New York-based "Native Tongues" acts De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Jungle Brothers. Common is touring behind the album "Like Water For Chocolate," which was released in March.

Though he hasn't released an album of his own since 1993, Biz Markie has guested on dozens of tracks since then. There have been reports that he has completed an album titled "Remember Me," but no release date has been announced.

Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli first gained widespread recognition for his work on the 1998 Black Star album "Mos Def and Talib Keweli are Black Star." Pharaohe Monch is best known for his work with Organized Konfusion.