Stakes Is High

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Stakes Is High was mainly produced by the group themselves, with additional tracks provided by Jay Dee, DJ Ogee, Spearhead X and Skeff Anslem. 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. 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. was a relentless attack on what De La saw as a decline, not only in hip hop music, but also in hip hop culture.

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 introduction track begins with various clips of interviews, the interviewees describing where they were when they first heard the influential rap album Criminal Minded. Robert Christgau wrote: "After almost four years, Posdnuos and company emerge from the ether like the long-lost friends they are. Great to see so many other reviewers echoing what I'm feeling about this record - its absolute quality!

At the end of track 9, "Long Island Degrees", a "redneck" explains why he hates rap music ("There's no music in it. 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. Like other De La Soul albums, Stakes Is High has a running theme, which in this case is the group's concern about the state of rap, as well as the state of hip hop culture and how it is regarded in general.

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. I’m a beginner at this vinyl thing when it comes to assessing records but this sounds really good to my ears. 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. The album marked a change in the group's sound and direction, as it was their first release not produced in collaboration with Prince Paul.The streaming version of the album divides "The Bizness" into two tracks, "The Bizness" and "Yunonstop". You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I think that the energy we put into that song was similar to that of what Marvin Gaye put into “What’s Going On. 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). City-bred trio of Posdnuos (Pos), Dave and Maseo continued to impact Hip Hop culture with five more groundbreaking albums: "De La Soul Is Dead" ('91), "Buhloone Mindstate" ('93), "Stakes Is High" ('96), "Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump" ('00) and "AOI: Bionix" ('01).