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Epicurus.com - Stakes Is High
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List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $12.99
Your Save: $ 0.99 ( 7% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Rhino / Ada
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0016998114926
Label: Rhino / Ada
Manufacturer: Rhino / Ada
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Rhino / Ada
Release Date: 1996-07-02
Studio: Rhino / Ada
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Editorial Reviews:
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The De La Plugs created the D.A.I.S.Y. (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). Then they tried to kill the Daisy with their follow-up, De La Soul Is Dead and then tried to find their way through the aftermath of that unnecessary act on Buh-Loone Mind State. Finally, a full three albums from their first, De La finds their footing with Stakes Is High. 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. With unfaltering lyrical dexterity, they get to ask the question, "Whatever happened to the Emcees?" ("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"). --Todd Levin
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: this is really good
Comment: Great album. Not as original as 3 feet high, or De la soul is dead, but it really stands the test of time. Love it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Highest Praise I can Give It - "An Instant Classic"!!!!
Comment: From the first time I heard it I knew it was one of the best cd's EVER made, and now some 12 years later, I still feel the same way about it. I put it up there on the same level as Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation...", Common's "Like Water For Chocolate", Ice Cube's "Death Certificate", Mos Def & Talib Kweli "Are Black Star", Dr. Dre's "The Chronic", And Outkast's "Aquemini". I wish De La Soul would get the credit they truly deserve!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: They Certainly Set The Stakes High On This One
Comment: 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!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Stakes Is High...Even For De La Soul (Rating: 7 out of 10- -3.5 stars)
Comment: I had a hard time connecting with this album, no matter how many times I played it. I find De La Soul to be one of the best groups in the hip hop game. Don't get me wrong, this album is enjoyable from time to time, but this just didn't hit like other De La Soul albums that I've heard. People say that this trio reached their peak with this album, and I disagree. The problems that I had with their fourth album "Stakes Is High" was the obvious absence of Prince Paul and their jump from psychedellic hip hop (3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul Is Dead) to hardcore hip hop, which is shown on this album. No more songs like "A Rollerskating Jam..." which made them seem fun to listen to, to songs like "Supa Emcees" where that (and a lot of other songs i.e. "Itzsoweezee (Hot)") sounds forced. For some odd reason I find that De La Soul was trying too hard this album, mostly with their "Anti-Commercial Rap" songs.
Now production. I believed everybody was dissapointed that Prince Paul was not behind the boards on this album, but mostly De La Soul along with Spearhead X, Ogee, Skeff Amslem, and Jay-Dee who co-produced the excellent song "Stakes Is High". Most of the other produces to include De La Soul do a good job pulling thier weight throughout this album.
Now don't get me wrong. This is a very good album, but not perfect like a lot of reviewers are saying (seeing the average is 5 stars...bring on the negative votes...). In my opinion, I just find it unbalanced. But hey, don't take my word for it, listen to the album yourself, because you might like it better than I do. "Stakes Is High" to me is like A Tribe Called Quest's "Beats, Rhymes, and Life".
Lyrics: B
Production: B
Guest Appearances: B+
Musical Vibes: B
Overall: B
Favorite Tracks: The Bizness, Wonce Again Long Island, Brakes, Betta Listen, 4 More, Stakes Is High
Honorable Mention Track: Supa Emcees
Favorite De La Soul Albums:
1. De La Soul Is Dead
2. 3 Feet High And Rising
3. AOI: Mosaic Thump
4. AOI: Bionix
5. Stakes Is High
Haven't heard:
The Grind Date
The Impossible Mission
Buhloone Mindstate (which might be important to why I didn't connect with this album very much)
Peace Everyone!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic DeLaSoul joint from 1996.............
Comment: Great alternative to other 96 joints like All eyes on me and Reasonable Doubt. De La delivers as usual. Peace to the Plugs!
Top Joints:
Stake is High
4 More
Dinninit
Itsowezee
Supa Emcees
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