Stakes Is High

Product Information

Then they tried to kill the Daisy with their follow-up, De La Soul Is Dead and then tried to find their way through the aftermath of that unnecessary act on Buh-Loone Mind State. Feet High and Rising was De La Soul's first release and a very influential album, held in similarly high regard as Criminal Minded, which is discussed at the beginning of the album. Stakes Is High helped introduce rapper Mos Def to a wider audience, on the track "Big Brother Beat". All the tracks are as original from what I can hear, no edits which is too common with Hip Hop reissues.

I’m not sure how the record itself sounds, but the cover looks amazing and it arrived protected and in perfect condition. The title track and first single was produced by J Dilla and the album's second single, "Itzsoweezee (HOT)", with only Dave on vocals, was accompanied by a creative music video. Stakes Is High deals with many topics, including the state of hip-hop, the commercialization of hip-hop culture, and criticism of gangsta rap.

The clip at the end of the final track, "Sunshine", closes the album with a young man saying "Yo, when I first heard 3 Feet High and Rising, I was" and then the clip is cut out in similar fashion to " Fight the Power" in Public Enemy's legendary album, Fear of a Black Planet. At the end of track 15, "Pony Ride"—an excerpt from the documentary Crumb, in which Maxon Crumb discusses his struggle living on the streets, describing his periods of optimism and depression. The streaming version of the album divides "The Bizness" into two tracks, "The Bizness" and "Yunonstop". Here, they're no longer so self-conscious and it's easy to remember why you liked them enough in the first place to stick with them through the hard times.

Great to see so many other reviewers echoing what I'm feeling about this record - its absolute quality! The introduction track begins with various clips of interviews, the interviewees describing where they were when they first heard the influential rap album Criminal Minded.Stakes Is High was mainly produced by the group themselves, with additional tracks provided by Jay Dee, DJ Ogee, Spearhead X and Skeff Anslem. The album did provide a launching pad for future star rappers and actors Mos Def, who appeared on the track "Big Brother Beat" and Common who is featured on "The Bizness". Robert Christgau wrote: "After almost four years, Posdnuos and company emerge from the ether like the long-lost friends they are. I’m a beginner at this vinyl thing when it comes to assessing records but this sounds really good to my ears. Da Inna Sound, Y'all) philosophy on their brilliant and weird debut, Three Feet High and Rising (making them the first—and probably only—hip-hop act to appropriate a Johnny Cash song for their album title).

The climactic point of De La Soul’s “Stakes is High” album serves as a criticism to the state of the world in 1996, along with a declaration that the Native Tongues are back in effect. But Stakes Is High — working with other artists and pulling in music from different places — that was a challenging album. was a relentless attack on what De La saw as a decline, not only in hip hop music, but also in hip hop culture.

Dilla was excited because here we are at this point in time where Dilla had already been seasoned in the game doing different things in the name of The Ummah, working with different artists but hadn’t did a De La Soul record. In 2023, Billboard and Stereogum ranked the song number six and number two, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest De La Soul songs. Stakes Is High marked the first time De La Soul did not collaborate with longtime producer Prince Paul on an album, as the group felt that the production he turned in for it didn't match the album's mood. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Love the flow of it, every track is focussed and is a real pleasure to listen to - whilst most people have got/ heard 3 Feet High (and don't get me wrong it's a great album), far less people have heard Stakes is High and its a shame because it shows how much De La Have evolved as a group.

Gangsta rapper 2Pac later retaliated on the song "Against All Odds" from his posthumous 1996 album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (as well as the unreleased song "Watch Ya Mouth" recorded during the same sessions).You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Dave's input was no less outspoken: "I'm sick of bitches shakin' asses / I'm sick of talkin' about blunts / Sick of Versace glasses / Sick of slang / Sick of half-ass awards shows / Sick of name brand clothes. Naughty By Nature member Treach also took serious offense at the record, creating a feud that only died down after about a decade and a half after Stakes Is High was released. The music video for "Stakes Is High" has all three members of De La Soul on an episode of The Maury Povich Show (with Povich appearing as himself) about hip-hop culture in the 1990s and how much of an influence it is on the world, along with clips of each De La Soul member doing typical household chores (raking leaves, doing laundry, etc.