Stakes Is High
| Stakes Is High | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||
| Studio album by De La Soul | ||||||||
| Released | July 2, 1996 | |||||||
| Recorded | 1995-1996 | |||||||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||||||
| Length | 68:19 | |||||||
| Label |
Tommy Boy 01149 |
|||||||
| Producer | De La Soul, Spearhead X, Skeff Anselm, O.Gee, Jay Dee | |||||||
| De La Soul chronology | ||||||||
|
||||||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
  |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| RapReviews.com |
 |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Rolling Stone |
|
Stakes Is High is De La Soul's fourth full-length album, released on July 2, 1996. The album marked a change in the group's sound and direction as it was their first release not to be produced in collaboration with Prince Paul. Stakes Is High was mainly produced by the group themselves with additional tracks provided by Jay Dee, DJ Ogee, Spearhead X and Skeff Anslem. It received mostly strong reviews but little commercial success.
Stakes Is High marked the first time the group did not collaborate with long-time producer Prince Paul on an album.
After the album's release, the group toured extensively and remained rather quiet before returning in 2000 with the first installment in their "Art Official Intelligence" series, Mosaic Thump.
Stakes Is High dealt with many topics, including the state of hiphop, the commercialization of the hip-hop culture and criticism towards gangsta rap. This would cause great contempt with the late gangsta rapper 2Pac who would later retaliate on the song "Against All Odds" from his posthumous 1996 album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. Naughty By Nature also took serious offense to the record, creating a feud that has only recently died down.
Stakes Is High helped introduce rapper Mos Def to a wider audience, on the cut "Big Brother Beat". Common also makes an appearance on "The Bizness".
Like other De La Soul albums, Stakes Is High has a running theme, which in this case is the group's concern for the state of rap, as well as the current state of hip hop culture and how it is regarded in general. The following sound clips are featured:
• Co-producer
Songwriters: K. Mercer, D. Jolicoeur, V. Mason
Sample: "Sing a Simple Song (Live)" by The Jackson 5
Songwriters: K. Mercer, D. Jolicoeur, V. Mason
Sample: "Summer Samba" by Walter Wanderley
Sample: "Get Me Back on Time, Engine #9" by Wilson Pickett
...
Wikipedia