You got daym right it does!! As the first de la album not to be produced by Prince Paul, this has always been a sleeper classic to me...especially considering it's mid 90's competition.

From the impeccable lyrics, rhyme schemes and topics to the hooks, choruses and beats... shit....to the interludes..I find it to be the best of ALL the de la albums let alone one of the GOAT period. That is to say, I can listen to this album, 15yrs after it's release, from start to finish, over and over and over... I mean, if this shit dropped today, I would be like... dayum this is tight! It remains timeless. I can't do that with any other de la album ... let alone with many HipHop albums in general.

Where do you herald Stakes Is High in your catalog?



lurkin since 1999. werd.

Stakes is High has a few CLASSIC songs but a few boring ones as well. Buhloone is a creative masterpiece and is criminally slept on.

not that it was wack (De La has no such albums in their discography), but I have a feeling that Stakes was the way it was, was because of the way that album rolled out.

I remember buying the tape and being "WTF?!!!" once you got past the singles. Compared to De La Soul Is Dead it was a bit of a step downward. I need to listen to this album again.

Now Stakes? Got a lot of memories attached to the songs, even the more sleepy album cuts.

Don't get me wrong. When Buhloone dropped, I wore the fuck out of that tape. I mean, the japanese rappers.... wtf?! that shit was mind blowing ill at the time. Breakadawn with the michael jackson /minnie ripperton samples.. so nice. HOWEVER, the album, as good and unique as it was, was still a bit too eclectic for continuous replay value...for me at least. Even now, I will crave and play Buhloone Mind State and then be good for the year. I can't run that album over and over. I can with Stakes.


lurkin since 1999. werd.

__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

I consider it a classic record. A huge departure from their first three LPs and still rock solid. That's saying something.

.

yeah, it's better than Kwame's A Day in the Life: A Pokadelick Adventure too.


lurkin since 1999. werd.

and i also got grind date. but i really cant imagine them getting any better than this record.

i need to play some catch up on de la. but these two albums are classics to me.

they have an uncanny sense of humor in their work that's sadly missing in alot of hip-hop.

You will be blown away.

i got stakes like 4 years ago. loved it.

just got grind date a month ago. also loved it.

what should i get next?

Buhloone Mind State

then


De La Soul is Dead


lurkin since 1999. werd.

"revisionist" rebellious moments

>"revisionist" rebellious moments

Buhloone Mindstate is much better. 1st three De La Soul albums are perfect....then we get boring Stakes. Hell naw to that one.

with the same reply...Stakes is asstacular.

just give me Buhloone Mindstate and a big ass blunt and i'm GOOD to go.

Stakes? I just never enjoyed this De La album and this is the one that everyone loves

It's come up before, not sure about twice a year, and if so... cool.

Also...

>with the same reply...Stakes is asstacular.

I'll ASSume you mean it's less than stellar

>
>just give me Buhloone Mindstate and a big ass blunt and i'm
>GOOD to go.


I'm wit dat, even though I'm chill on the blizzard


>
>Stakes? I just never enjoyed this De La album and this is the
>one that everyone loves

Weird, because above you say that everyone thinks it's asstacular.


lurkin since 1999. werd.

Some OKPs that I genuinely like as people really love this album. I just don't dig it the same way. I don't make it out to be anything more than a difference in opinion regarding an otherwise stellar hip hop group. I didn't like the emergence of the "grown man steez", the boring beats and the overall lack of energy on the album. Prince Paul was sorely missed here (side note: J Dilla is still my fav producer).

>Some OKPs that I genuinely like as people really love this
>album. I just don't dig it the same way. I don't make it out
>to be anything more than a difference in opinion regarding an
>otherwise stellar hip hop group. I didn't like the emergence
>of the "grown man steez", the boring beats and the overall
>lack of energy on the album. Prince Paul was sorely missed
>here (side note: J Dilla is still my fav producer).

even if you can't stand me, i guess. *sad face*

>
>It's come up before, not sure about twice a year, and if so...
>cool.
>
>Also...
>
>>with the same reply...Stakes is asstacular.
>
>I'll ASSume you mean it's less than stellar

I think it's less than stellar i'm not speaking for anyone BUT ME.
>>
>>just give me Buhloone Mindstate and a big ass blunt and i'm
>>GOOD to go.
>
>
>I'm wit dat, even though I'm chill on the blizzard
>
>
>>
>>Stakes? I just never enjoyed this De La album and this is
>the
>>one that everyone loves
>
>Weird, because above you say that everyone thinks it's
>asstacular.
NO...my original post its pretty clear that I don't care for the album at all. I know many people that LOVE it. I don't. I was speaking FOR ME.

Spend less time making assumptions and MORE time with the facts you have. I don't like Stakes...others due. I am speaking for ME in this post.

Thanks for playing and have a blessed day.
>
>lurkin since 1999. werd.

....also, its one of the greatest albums of all time ...easy classic

@ 27 years old...I grew up with this group...and Stakes Is High is my favorite album from them. 'Supa Emcees' is the shit!!

Definitely a classic album on it's own & compared to the mediocre rap by the likes of Cudi,Khalifa,Fiasco or Drake's of today.

The word 'best' is tricky,which in Mergeville is usually only reserved for wu tang so I'll just stick with Stakes Is High as my FAVORITE.

I just turned 35 & I was still only just hitting puberty when these guys came out.

But you may be part of that 'second wave' of De La fan that got into Stakes when it dropped (around the same age I was when 'Plug Tunin' did) and then continued on from there.

There seems to be a lot of folks here like that which makes sense considering that OKP started in 99/2000 & as Jakob was saying a lot of the motif of this album had been expanded on in the form of Mos/Com/Kweli/etc.

ahahha, yo bomb, check post #45

lurkin since 1999. werd.

.

Well my mom got 3 feet on tape and my favorite songs back then were me Myself/Magic Number,and Ive been checking for them ever since,my mom reallly liked music so I had access to a lot of albums back then before I started buying them myself. You must have me confused with this 'second wave'.

If I meant 'grew up on'...I would've typed it.

album to album as it happened which seemed tough for a 5/6 year old to do but I won't debate it, sounds like you had a cool mom. peace.

Well it's not like I understood the significance of everything right away....When in rome.

that joint never gets old

(which goes without saying, my all-time favorite De La Soul album, and much like their debut, an instant classic)

But then again, I remember so much more of this album, and out of the Native Tongue-related albums released in that time, I enjoyed this one the most.

Largely because of the title track. I wasn't reading liner notes back then, but when that dropped, it was one of a number of songs that nailed what I was thinking about the world at that point and time, released as singles... AND it had a great beat backing it up to boot.

If for anything, this was when De La Soul started to shed their "otherness" and even more of the esoteric nature of their look and their rhymes, and became a bit more "working class". I guess they were entitled, because they had been around for 7 years up until this point.

"Supa Emcees" is just one of those songs I associate with getting up at the ASS CRACK of dawn to get up in the Volvo and do what I had to do during the day.

Rocked the hell out of this tape.

oh yeah, what was it that Common said that was deleted from his verse on "The Bizness"?

So back to the "classic"-ness of this album:

- is it one of the more essential rap albums of the year of its release? Certainly, if you were going to understand the "big divide" in thematic content that became even more pronounced this year.

- is it one of those albums that contributes one or more songs to the artist's canon (i.e. songs that a lot of people know, regardless of their leanings)? I'd say yes. The title track got a good deal of play on MTV (and so did Jeru's "Ya Playin' Yaself", ironically) and BET. Though it's not "Me, Myself and I" level, I think if you said "De La Soul" to a rap fan who knows who they are, the song comes up in the discussion.

- is it generally well liked within its discography? Not overwhelmingly, but many either got into De La Soul (late) though this album, or welcomed it.

Hmm. Maybe is it a classic after all.

Yo Claw, thanks for this breakdown. As always you come with a thoughtful retort. There's just something about the album that speaks to the time when it dropped. Meaning, those of us who were listening to this album when it was released seem to keep it as something special, it seemed to be that mature mid 90's album that we were all craving and that we could connect to. Plus, it was de la, and although I def think Buhloone was underrated... this just seemed like a crescendo.

>oh yeah, what was it that Common said that was deleted from
>his verse on "The Bizness"?


I never heard about this. curious though.



>(which goes without saying, my all-time favorite De La Soul
>album, and much like their debut, an instant classic)
>
>But then again, I remember so much more of this album, and out
>of the Native Tongue-related albums released in that time, I
>enjoyed this one the most.
>
>Largely because of the title track. I wasn't reading liner
>notes back then, but when that dropped, it was one of a number
>of songs that nailed what I was thinking about the world at
>that point and time, released as singles... AND it had a great
>beat backing it up to boot.
>
>If for anything, this was when De La Soul started to shed
>their "otherness" and even more of the esoteric nature of
>their look and their rhymes, and became a bit more "working
>class". I guess they were entitled, because they had been
>around for 7 years up until this point.
>
>"Supa Emcees" is just one of those songs I associate with
>getting up at the ASS CRACK of dawn to get up in the Volvo and
>do what I had to do during the day.
>
>Rocked the hell out of this tape.
>
>oh yeah, what was it that Common said that was deleted from
>his verse on "The Bizness"?
>
>So back to the "classic"-ness of this album:
>
>- is it one of the more essential rap albums of the year of
>its release? Certainly, if you were going to understand the
>"big divide" in thematic content that became even more
>pronounced this year.
>
>- is it one of those albums that contributes one or more songs
>to the artist's canon (i.e. songs that a lot of people know,
>regardless of their leanings)? I'd say yes. The title track
>got a good deal of play on MTV (and so did Jeru's "Ya Playin'
>Yaself", ironically) and BET. Though it's not "Me, Myself and
>I" level, I think if you said "De La Soul" to a rap fan who
>knows who they are, the song comes up in the discussion.
>
>- is it generally well liked within its discography? Not
>overwhelmingly, but many either got into De La Soul (late)
>though this album, or welcomed it.
>
>Hmm. Maybe is it a classic after all.


lurkin since 1999. werd.

>oh yeah, what was it that Common said that was deleted from
>his verse on "The Bizness"?

"Take a dive like Greg Louganis with his gay ass" or something like that

an album that niggas say is 'old niggas preaching'
think about the kind of albums niggas in the same age range are making now and see just how deep the divide is
we won't even get into talent level, let's just leave that alone for a minute
but what kind of rapper thats 25 would even think of making a record as mature, witty and well-executed as this one?

>think about the kind of albums niggas in the same age range
>are making now and see just how deep the divide is

..and compare to what kids those age are doing now

.

I don't think it carried over well though (but that's just my opinion).

at that point and they STILL have never made anything like that record

so c'est la vie.

.

"SPEAK ON IT GOD!!!"

www.twitter.com/spathegod

Its my fave De La album and I was listening when the first three were made but those first 3 didn't age like Stakes to me...

I guess it just speaks to the strength of their catalogue up until that point that an album that good was seen as kind of step down in quality.

It was the first album they released after I became a fan (I was 15), so it definitely holds a special place in sentimental terms.

~Austin

for me that is, because it was the first album of theirs I really listened to front to back in 96/97 when I was 15/16. It captures a feeling that really broke through with Stones Throw, Rawkus and Def Jux a xcouple of years later. That album spoke a lot to the way I felt about rap and society at the time. I have no clue what album niggaz is listening to when they say it sucks or is boring. It's still my favorite De La LP.

I was EXTREMELY disappointed in that album. De La sounded like grumpy old men and the beats were mostly faceless muzak that predicted the "conscious backpacker" sound (think Blackstar, late 90's Common etc.) I never really liked. I can understand why many OKP's dig the album though since that's a style which was popular here...

Anyway, practically nothing I love about De La is found on that album...

It's still "good" though, I give it 3 stars out of 5 but I prefer "Beats, rhymes & life" if we talk 96 Native Tongues and I was disappointed by that one too...

there's a large segment of OKP that actually came of age with that album as their introduction to De La & 'real hip-hop' so it holds sway with them.

I don't know any person that started listening when 3 Feet dropped that would consider this their best album & its legacy in the scheme of the genre as a whole is fairly negligle.

>
>I don't know any person that started listening when 3 Feet
>dropped that would consider this their best album & its legacy
>in the scheme of the genre as a whole is fairly negligle.



That would be me. I'm 35. I was listening to 3 feet when it dropped as I was in 9th grade in 1989. I had been listening to Hip Hop for almost 6 years at that point. That means when Stakes is High dropped I was 21, finishing college and DJing parties with classic records from what is now considered the golden era of hiphop. I would say that De La Soul is dead is a landmark for De La.... but for me, I cannot listen to it over and over. I can listen to Stakes over and over. This is the difference for me as to what I would consider as classic.


lurkin since 1999. werd.

might not be the kind of record that some people would play front-to-back regularly & could see how some of the Stakes records in terms of tone/tempo would fit better into a DJ set (although 'Saturday' is maybe their best single to throw in a mix outside 'Buddy', 'Millie' is their best story song & 'Bitties In The BK Lounge' might be their most brilliantly humorous one).

I do like the album in stretches (particularly Dinninnit into Brakes) despite the beats/tone running together at times but to me they lost something without Paul & the youthful exuberance/oddness of earlier records that they never fully got back.

Stakes Is High is sorta that line of demarcation for me as a De La fan because it reminds me of that fact (plus sounds a bit silly in terms of the griping considering how strong the genre still was at the point it was recorded).

To me this album's feel is like the college age kid that comes back home on break talking a bunch of shit to his family like he knows everything because he's read a few books.

Kid means well but doesn't yet fully appreciate how much his folks' busted their ass to help pay his tuition & that once he's a man paying his own bills he'll have to put some of that pseudo-activist shit to the side and truly grow up.

Music can inspire but it needs to entertain first.

they champion today..

This kind of rap is right and this kind of rap is bad and not good for the culture...

the fact the fun loving kids did it and turn bitter with it......I mean they always sneak diss niggaz but now they did it without the wit and the smile now it was with they nose up in the air like "I'm better than you and you have no place in here"

>they champion today..
>
>This kind of rap is right and this kind of rap is bad and not
>good for the culture...
>
>the fact the fun loving kids did it and turn bitter with
>it......I mean they always sneak diss niggaz but now they did
>it without the wit and the smile now it was with they nose up
>in the air like "I'm better than you and you have no place in
>here"

yeah, this is a very suburban record, however not in the mischieavious/fun/party-in-the-woods way but more in the judgemental/lawyerly sense.

Not as inventive as their previous albums, but perfectly executed, and atmospheric in a way few albums have been ever since.

>Not as inventive as their previous albums, but perfectly
>executed, and atmospheric in a way few albums have been ever
>since.


lurkin since 1999. werd.

Stakes is dope. Lyrically its incredible. As an album it's long and bloated. The theme isn't as strong as the previous ones or perhaps just not as fun. Kind of like Labcabin after Bizarre Ride. Interestingly enough Jay Dee was involved with both of those. And shit I can just throw Tribe in there too..... OH SHIT!!! YOOOOOO.... that's kinda nuts. Before I lose my thought though. A lot of De La fans weren't ready for the grown up steeze. Especially because it focused on complaining with little humor. When you listen to Buhloon though the hmor grew up with them. They still deal with real shit. There's complaining, but the humor is there too.

But lyrically.... Stakes is straight beast mode.
________
Big PEMFin H & z's
█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃

RIPL - http://www.rhythm-incursions.com/category/podcast/presented-by-primus-luta/
Read me write - http://themoshi.tumblr.com/

Kind of like Labcabin
>
Ya know, Ive always been partial to labcabin over bizaar as well. Shit, maybe it's just me. ah well, at least this thread is discussing some the best.

First three albums, De La was super creative and slightly snobbish. They would occasionally poke fun at what other artists were doing, but it never came across as heavy handed. They always kept it witty, light and somewhat codified. All of a sudden they started caring too much about what everyone else was doing. Instead of drawing up an innovative offensive scheme as per usual, they decided that they had to focus on playing defense. If you take "Stakes Is High" (the song) off the album, then it's honestly a little on the boring side. I bumped the album when it came out because I was very anti-mainstream rap at the time, but in the end it isn't a particularly good representation of De La Soul's legacy.

But like others said, I was disappointed that the quirkiness and humor of the previous three joints was gone along with Paul.

Still a great album with fantastic songs, beats & lyrics. Holds up remarkably well.


http://twitter.com/collazo
http://www.reverbnation.com/livesociety

No....because we put too many albums in that category when there should really only be like 20 classics ....people say there are like 50 which is too many ..what makes it classic or differentiates it though ?


I would be Stakes is High along with a bunch of other really really good music in a sub classic category or an Honorable mention that is really respected or carries weight.


It's really good.....but is it illmatic ? Chronic ? Midnight Marauders ? good ???? not quite...but almost

cause you just dropped some gems in this post

production needs some oomph/body to it, and de la seemed to have run out of inspiration. imo, this is when they started to get less interesting.

but classic? ehhh i dont think so. I was a senior in high school when it dropped. I liked it a lot but some of the cuts were skippable. Good album tho

I feel the same way. It's my favorite De La album and it ages so well!
I played it last week, matter of fact.


http://twitter.com/Drewmathic