After 15 years, De La Soul probably never thought they’d go out like this. But in February, less than 10 weeks after the release of Bionix, the second in their planned Art Official Intelligence (AOI) three-album cycle, Tommy Boy Records sold most of its acts and its back catalog to partner Warner Bros. for a song. Warner dropped De La, who found their way to Elektra for almost a minute, before being dropped again in barely enough time for the door to hit their ass. Tommy Boy didn’t even tell the band what was happening until the day they folded.

The timing couldn't have been much worse. The band had built substantial buzz behind what was critically hailed as their best album since their breakthrough debut, 3 Feet High and Rising. They had followed the first installment of the trilogy, Mosaic Thump, which many felt tried too hard to cop the street sound of peers like Jay-Z or DMX, with an album that harked back to the strengths of the debut. A real return to form, Bionix overflows with intelligent, lyrically limber raps on thoughtful themes such as our culture's conception of beauty ("Baby Phat"), the triumph of positivity ("Trying People") and even a hilarious meditation on attraction, led by old-school hero Slick Rick ("What We Do (For Love)"), all delivered with a heaping serving of phat, supple grooves.

David Jolicoeur, a.k.a. Trugoy the Dove, recalls a particular critique of Mosaic Thump. A young fan approached him outside the studio while recording Bionix and accused him of "trying to do what everybody else is trying to do."

"We are aware of what styles are going on," Trugoy explains, "and to an extent you try to implement what you do with a little bit of what's happening."

Given their varied backgrounds -- Mase, the band's DJ, spent his early years on the tough streets of the Bronx, Trugoy's parents are immigrants, and third member Posdnous grew up on Long Island -- the band may have been too concerned with being all things to all people rather than focusing on what they do best. Their biggest success came from the ability to cross over to the college and indie-rock crowds who appreciated the easy-going, consciousness-raising style of tracks such as "The Magic Number" and "I Am I Be." It's a group of fans they hope to re-connect with on the current Ultimate Sunshine Tour, featuring popular rock acts such as Modest Mouse, Cake and The Flaming Lips.

"It's really been good, I can't front," says Mase. "The wild shit is being a support band. We haven't been a support band in a while. I'm feeling that. No pressure, like summer vacation."

And like a vacation, the tour's been therapeutic, allowing them to do what comes natural and forget the distractions.

"We're just enjoying making some music and being on the road a little bit. Just mastering the craft a little bit more. When we get back from the tour we'll consider some of the options on the table," says Mase. "If we get up in another corporate situation, we definitely want to have a bigger piece of the pie."

De La's situation is not without its irony. When they were being courted, "everyone really wanted to touch ground with hip-hop. All the majors wanted to get involved and it was the independents that were rolling, like Tommy Boy and Def Jam," recalls Mase. "If you asked me, I always felt like Def Jam would've been the move. But back then you could honestly say Def Jam and Tommy Boy were neck and neck. Def Jam just happened to precede them in the future and really kept evolving as hip-hop evolved."

Never ones to dwell in the past, the talented trio are already at work on two new albums, one of which will be the final installment of the AOI trilogy, which will be dedicated to the DJ. One name they've discussed working with is the legendary Afrika Bambaataa, who was also on Tommy Boy for a time. Meanwhile, the band moves forward.

"The best part of it is knowing 15 years later, we've pretty much established ourselves," says Mase. "To have something to work off of is definitely a great thing.

"Thank God we are still able to make the music that we make and people appreciate it. De La Soul are like the people's people and some people say the rappers' rapper, so if it's other people or rappers that make the rest of the world recognize De La Soul, that's a good feeling because the direction of a company can fuck your whole shit up."

De La Soul plays Unlimited Sunshine 2002, Thu., Aug. 22, 6 p.m., $17-$36, with Cake, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Kinky and The Hackensaw Boys, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd St. and Parkside Ave., 215-336-2000.