It’s also one of the best albums of 1996, and accurately captured the sensibilities of that point in time as effectively as long players like Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and the Fugees’ The Score. Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer, David “Dove” Jolicoeur, and Vincent “Maseo” Mason all pour their souls into the project, which ranks among the upper echelon of albums that they’ve released. Overall, it’s not quite at the level of either of those two releases, but considering that they both rank among the best albums ever made, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Stakes Is High is as ambitious of an album as their debut 3 Feet High And Rising (1989) and its follow-up De La Soul Is Dead (1991). With Stakes Is High, De La Soul aspired to create an album that will impact their audience on a personal level. The intro becomes a microcosm of how people experience music, and how great music can create indelible memories and change lives. The official version of Stakes Is High infamously begins with numerous people reminiscing about the first time they heard Boogie Down Productions’ Criminal Minded (1987). It was an album that I enjoyed immensely, as I was able to play it all through spring break while hanging with the crew. Sometimes when I listen to the commercial version of Stakes Is High, I still hear the tags in my mind. The song sequencing was different, it was missing a few songs that would end up on the official version, and there were “Tommy Boy!” audio tags on every song. The promo version of Stakes Is High turned out to be a little different than what was eventually released 25 years ago.

I didn’t feel all that guilty about getting the album early, since I knew I was going to buy it anyway whenever it was officially released (which I indeed did). It was close to spring break, and I wanted to head back home to Oakland bumping the album and be able to share it with the rest of my De La Soul-loving friends. I don’t remember what I offered the guy in return (the sender’s name has been lost to time as well), but I do know I pleaded with the guy to send me the cassette ASAP. So, when someone offered to send me a bootleg promo version of the legendary Long Island crew’s fourth album in the mail, I leapt at the chance. I made the connections with like-minded hip-hop heads on listserv-based message boards, which is a great indication that this all happened a quarter of a century ago. I was in the midst of my tape-trading days, and I was in the habit of trying track down unreleased material and/or other soon-to-be released albums by artists that I loved. When I first heard De La Soul’s Stakes Is High, it was spring of my junior year at the University of Pennsylvania. Happy 25th Anniversary to De La Soul’s fourth studio album Stakes Is High, originally released July 2, 1996.

Prince paul a prince among thieves zip