Great to see so many other reviewers echoing what I'm feeling about this record - its absolute quality!

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). 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. I’m not sure how the record itself sounds, but the cover looks amazing and it arrived protected and in perfect condition. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. 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.

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. 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". I think that the energy we put into that song was similar to that of what Marvin Gaye put into “What’s Going On. 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. Stakes Is High deals with many topics, including the state of hip-hop, the commercialization of hip-hop culture, and criticism of gangsta rap.

Super-Emcees"), skewer the industry ("The Bizness," with some help from that super MC, Common), and even shout out to their birthplace, Long Island, twice (on "Long Island Degrees" and the break-down-funky "Wonce Again Long Island"). 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 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. Robert Christgau wrote: "After almost four years, Posdnuos and company emerge from the ether like the long-lost friends they are. The streaming version of the album divides "The Bizness" into two tracks, "The Bizness" and "Yunonstop". 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.

The song included many memorable lines such as Posdnous' " Gun control means using both hands in my land. 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. 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. Stakes Is High helped introduce rapper Mos Def to a wider audience, on the track "Big Brother Beat".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. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.