DE LA SOUL - Stakes Is High 2LP

Double album.

All of their albums are so different. Everybody has a different favorite De La Soul album. There's 3 Feet High and Rising for people that don't even like rap, De La Soul Is Dead for rap fans that liked the former, Buhloone Mindstate for the hardcore De La fans that love their innovation, Stakes Is High for those who root for the underdog, The Art Official Intelligence series for those that like De La's unique futuristic sound, and The Grind Date for the shorties that peeped De La Soul on the Gorillaz joint.

After losing their popularity amongst hippies and becoming an underground conscious group, De La Soul didn't care and continued to move forward with their music. In 1996, their fourth album Stakes Is High came out and it's definitely a favourite of many.

Hip-hop was taking a turn for the worse, so it's a no-brainer that Plug 1, 2 and 3 address the problems with hip-hop throughout the album, most significant in the title track. They still have fun for a big part of the album and even end the album with the feel-good "Sunshine". But throughout the album, they take shots at fake, so called emcees. They seem more fed up with the materialistic nature of how east coast rap had been following the birth of mafioso rap and its takeover than gangsta rappers from the west. Their lyrics have also improved, placing Posdnuos and Trugoy as two of the most underrated emcees. Prince Paul gave up his position as their producer and so, De La Soul produce Stakes Is High mostly by themselves with some help from J Dilla, most notably the title track again. Despite the absence of Prince Paul, these guys fill his shoes perfectly with just the right beats to make-up for his lack of presence here.