Customer Reviews

Stakes Is High

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

De La Soul is a legend of the hip-hop game. They've endured many different styles and personas through their tenure spanning 1989-2001, while producing 6 classic LP's.

"Stakes is High" (1996) chronologically sits at #4, following a successfully experimental "Buhloone Mindstate" (1993). This album was their first w/o the production of the legendary Prince Paul, and it seems to me (through the realness and overall chemistry of the album), that "Stakes is High" is De La in their prime.

They were only 19 (est.) when they dropped "3 feet...", they hated the way the public mistook them, and eventually branded them as hippies (they kinda asked for it), then two years later they dropped "De La Soul is Dead" announcing and proving to the world that they were true MC's, via a much more serious and raw LP. Then came "Buhloone...", true De La heads know what I mean when I say that this album completely transcended the first two, with it being much more "out-there." Nonetheless the experiment was a success, because the album is sick. Now we come to "Stakes...", in my mind the trio had matured enough and truly found themselves. Their lyrical rhetoric and selection of topic tracks are completely on-point. Coupled with some of the best beats they've ever spit on (I believe the break-beats are perfect for De La's style) gives us one of Hip-Hop's greatest complete albums. Maybe you don't realize it now, but down the road everyone will comprehend what a huge achievement this LP truly was.

I have to mention that this album caters to all tastes; it's lounging, "Da Bizness" (#3) & "Long Island Degrees" (#9). Bumpin', "Wonce Again Long Island" (#4) & "Down Syndrome" (#14). Insightful, "Betta Listen" (#10) & "Dog Eat Dog" (#7). And puts you in a great mood, "Dinninit" (#5) & "Sunshine" (#16).

The title track, "Stakes is High" (#16), still sends chills through my ears everytime I hear it, peep this:

"The instamatic focal point, bringin' damage to your borough, be some brothers from the east with the beats that be thorough / I've got the solar gravitation, so I'm bound to pull it, I gets down like brothers are found - duckin' from bullets / gun control means usin' both hands - in my lands, where it's all about the cautious livan / migratin' to a higher form of consequence...compliments on strugglin', that shouldn't be notable and every word I say should be a hip-hop quoteable."

It's one of my favorite tracks ever, by any artist.

Bottom Line: This album is a masterpiece. 5 shining stars.

De la Soul came out with 3 feet high, a good album but it was too goofy for me personally, as they releashed subsequent albums more maturity developed within them. And then time came when i heard "Stakes is High"
this album is so beauitful to listen to from start to finish, there isn't a song which i consider a filler. the depth of the lyrics will keep you listening more intently everytime you hear it, while the beats will keep ringing in your ear drums till your next listen.
this album has the key word "longevity" which makes it a classic in my veiw, and is not biased by hype or support for de la.
Although the album may not have been revolutionary or ground breaking, it was an introspective of hip hop and where it was at.
this a masterpiece, you must listen to it and you too will hopefully agree. i might take a few listens but when it clicks u'll be amazed.
check out my favourite de la & hip hop album.

This is probably De La Souls best album and unlike the others they dropped the weirdness and just delivered hardcore beats with excellent lyrics. Just straight-up hip-hop beats with no thrills. I just dug this out the crates and it sounds better now than it did when I bought it, especially compared with the common drivel thats being peddled to us these days.

This album is definitely better than Art Official Intelligence and if you want only one De La Soul album in your collection then this is the one.

Real headz must check this, or you are seriously missing out...

Real hip-hop fans know that 'Stakes is High' is among one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. The majority of artists out there are happy to have as little as 1 or 2 fillers on an album. These brothers don't even use a lyric as a filler. The album is that tight!!!

"Come on y'all, get live, get down. What we have is a brand new sound." What a debut by Mos Def, tearing up the track w/ the funky duo. Common, Zhane, and Truth Enola also add a little seasoning to the album w/ mad flava. After partly being responsible in creating a brand new hip-hop culture w/ LONS (Busta), the Tribe, the JB's, and others, De La continued to pound out album after album. This album happens to be my favorite. They left the flowers in the garden and produced 17 profound tracks. It is pointless to share my favorite songs because I can rewind every track. The intro was made for listeners to get accustomed to an album full of phat beats and great lyrics. "F*** being hardcore, I make it hard for, whack emcee's to even step inside the door. Because these brothers be rhyming sometiming...". That's being true to the game. MC's representing w/o being something their not. I tell you what can't be denied, they are one of the kings of hip-hop. De La Soul has spanned three decades w/ their sound never going stale, always fresh.

Back in 1996, at the time when the West Coast/East Coast rivalry was in full swing, before the deaths of Tupac and B.I.G., and when every rapper claimed to be doing drug deals with Italians and Columbians, De La Soul again stood against the tide and dropped one of the best protest hip-hop records ever. On "Stakes is High," De La proclaimed their love for "the 516," represented true hip-hop culture, and blasted all the materialism, hypocrisy violence and straight-up ignorance that infects hip-hop culture and the "rap" industry.

On "Stakes," it all comes together for De La. Plugs 1 and 2's flows were tight, Plug 3's DJing was on point, and the production by Prince Paul was flawless. The best tracks are "dinninit," "wonce again," "the bizness" (with that hot bass line and Common holdin' it down), and of course, the title track, which to me ranks right up there with "Rebel Without A Pause." This is probably their most consistent LP.

This CD becomes more and more relevant to me when I look at what has happened to hip-hop music: the celebration of ignorance, the material worship, etc. De La tried to warn us backinaday that it was coming. I hope more people put this CD (along with "Art Official Intelligence" and "Bionix") in their rotation and wake up. This is one of the best hip-hop joints ever.

De La Soul are hard to put a finger on. Once you think you've figured their sound out, they change it up on you. That's what makes their albums so interesting as they are not copies of one another. While this has hurt them commercially, they've reaped tons of respect. They are constantly raising the artistic bar and Stakes Is High raises it considerably. The beats move away from the rock and pop sampling that they employed in previous releases and move into a funkier sound. Pos and Dave are smooth as ever on the mikes and they, as usual, have some guest mc's. Common guests on the "The Bizness" and Mos Def, who was basically unknown at the time, guests on "Big Brother Beat". "Supa Emcees" isn't boasting about their own prowess, but stating times have changed and whatever happen to all the great mc's. The entire album is brilliant without a bad song, but some songs to pay attention to are "Dog Eat Dog", "Betta Listen", "Itzsoweeze" and "Sunshine". The title track is one of the best hip hop songs of all time and is De La's masterpiece. With the blaring horns and intense lyrics it is, like the rest of the album, a true hip hop classic.

De La came back with a vengance after dropping a questionable LP (Buhloone Mind State). The De La formula is a formula that can succeed in any era: clever rhymes, tight beats, and the use of a DJ. On tracks like "The Bizness", they attack the industry with the help of Common. On "Stakes Is High" Trugoy (Yogurt spelled backward, how fly is that) goes into how he's sick of the industry with lines like "I'm sick of b*tches shaking a**es//I'm sick of talkin' 'bout blunts//sick of versace glasses//sick of slang//sick of half a**ed award shows//sick of name brand clothes//sick of R&B b*tches over bullsh*t tracks//cocaine and cracks which bring sickness to blacks...." A lyric that stands true even today. De La has been pushed to the side in an era where skills have been traded in for money, hoes, rims, and ice. I won't say that rap music is dead just yet, but when acts like De La get swept under the rug, you have to wonder if it's terminally ill with only a short time left. Stakes Is High is probably one of their best albums and also one of their most ignored. Beats, rhymes, skills....it's all there. Go get it.

Personal Favorites: Stakes Is High (my favorite), Big Brother Beat feat. Mos Def, Dinninit, Itsoweezee, Sunshine, and The Bizness feat. Common

It is a strange fluke to be reviewing back to back De La Soul records and awarding them the allustrious 5 stars. Perhaps no other group has exemplified the longevity, quality, respect, intelligence, and playfullness like only De La can do. With their fourth album, they made some major changes (only because the times were changing so quickly). Prince Paul was absent for the first time in their career, the beats sound more lively and raw, they play the samples then then play them on light keyboards with hard drums...and their lyricism is absolutely MINDBLOWING AS EVER! My review of the Group Homes "Living Proof" stands by my opinion that it is the essential album for any hip hop producer. However, if you asked me what is essential for any aspiring lyricist; then "Stakes Is High" is it. Posdunous and Trugoy juggle their syntax, craft witty metaphors that stays on beat (while outshining them), and their language is so rich in imagery that the lyrics reveals something new with each listen. If you thought that their rhyme patterns were complex on earlier records, then you haven't heard nothing yet.

The albums "Intro", preceded by a skit, is not your typical skip material. After paying homage to the pioneering Boogie Down Productions, the lyrical onslaught begins. Posdunous rhymes, "A fresh linen scent so sniffer on the two-inch/ A talker of the berg without we-- influence/ So stick to you Naughty by Natures and your Kane/ 'Cause graffiti that I based upon the wax is insane". Apparently, the line was a show of respect to the aforementioned artists but the complexity was taken out of context and sparked a short beef between Treach and Posdunous. "Supa Emcess" follows and is unquestionably a superb single. The play on words are timeless especially when Posdunous spits, "Within this program of rap, I'll eradicate the glitches/ Yo I'm dark like Wesley, but I be sparkin more bitc---/and to them my constellation put your lives in jep/ While you others represent, I present my rep". The album just doesn't let up because the next song is "The Bizness". Another excellent single and once again the song is so lyrical that you can't help but say DAMN! Common is freakin' flows for the fun of it and as bold a statement this is, it is my personal favorite verse from him (including anything on "Resurrection"). "Wonce Again Long Island" and "Dinninit" follow and continues to blow me away. If the former doesn't make you look at degradation of women in hip hop in a different way then your a lost cause. Posdnous rhymes, "R&B nig--- lie to mother, sister, and daughter/ to have sex disguised as lovin in the rain/ Their words are more hollow than October 31st/ what's worse, hate to see the/ females switch to sexual mentality/ it doesn't match with they given anatomy/ Man they rather be ho'z like that male emcee/Who walk around like they got nutz/ And use they titz and azz like a crutch/ Man the underground's about not bein exposed/ So you better take your naked azz and put on some clothes/".


Truthfully, it is hard to quote certain lines here and there because it just doesn't do this record justice. Any verse could have been featured smack dab on the Source Magazines Quotable page. On top of that, if you think Prince Pauls influence is void on "Stakes Is High", then you are sorely mistaken. Being around Prince Paul, De La Soul has obviously learned from his genius and they have injected their own madness here. Telephone buttons ring to the mellow groove of "4 More", a short skit combating Country Musics ignorance towards rap music appears at the end of "Long Island Degrees" and the soul samples are extremely tight and layered by mixmaster Tim Latham in startling peak form. One of the tightest beats has to be "Big Brother Beat" featuring a young and hungry Mos Def. Since the album is so lyrical, Mos Def decides to flip Rakim lines just to keep pace with Posdunous and Trugoys 'Attack of the adverbial nouns'. I could talk about each song for days because there is so much standout material. However, the title track is one of hip hop musics underappreciated masterpieces. If you ever had a doubt in your mind that award shows are nothing but a popularity contest and are quite meaningless then this will erase those doubts. Trugoy spits, "I'm sick of bitc--- shakin' as---/I'm sick of talkin' about bluntz/ Sick of Versace glasses/ Sick of slang/ Sick of half-azz awards shows/ Sick of name brand clothes/ Sick of R&B bit---- over bullsh-- tracks Cocaine and crack/ Which brings sickness to blacks/ Sick of swoll' head rappers With their sicker-than raps/ Clappers and gats Makin' the whole sick world collapse".

In conclusion, "Stakes Is High" raises the bar of lyricism so cruelly high that NO emcee has stepped to it since. Contrary to many previous reviewers, I believe De La Soul took a huge step forward musically. They experimented with their own basslines (filtered them brilliantly with hi-tech studio equipment), sampled then played the samples on keyboards to inject more life in the sound, and they brought in the late Jay Dee (R.I.P.) to produce some cuts, whose hard drums and smooth sounds would be emulated over and over again. The album that you needed yesterday, "Stakes is High" will forever remain a benchmark in artistic growth, musicianship, and a dangerous display of euphemism, slang, and metaphor. Beats and rhymes like you will never hear again!

Not only is this cd De la's best cd, but it is a hip hop classic. It is the only De la album that I consistently come back to on a regular basis. Most of their albums are weighed down with cheesy fillers and skits, but this one brings you the straight ish without tons of cameos. I can't say enough about this album. It's more relevent today in 2003 then when the beats first hit the street in 1996. Go cop it.

This is personally my favorite De la Soul album. You can tell how much they have matured since their debut "3 Feet High and Rising" both lyrically and musically. If your looking to get into hip-hop music this is a great place to start, if your a veteran, and you still havent heard this album you better run your ass to the store quick because this album is not to be slept on. Theres never a dull moment as the album proggress' through slick top notch production. Pos and Dave both come through through stong lyrically and compliment the beats very nicely.

***** 5 Stars