Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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De La Soul’s Stakes Is High captures the group at a crucial turning point: older, sharper, and completely locked in. Released in 1996, the album marked their fourth full-length and their first without Prince Paul, opening the door to a tougher, more stripped-back sound led in part by a young J Dilla on the title track. That lead single became one of De La’s signature statements, peaking at No. 53 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while the album reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. But numbers only tell part of the story — Stakes Is High remains such a vital listen because it hears De La Soul confronting the mid-’90s head-on, with wit, frustration, and a deep sense of artistic confidence. From “The Bizness” to “Itzsoweezee (HOT),” the album balances soulful production and clear-eyed commentary in a way that still feels fresh decades later. It’s one of those records that may not have shouted the loudest on arrival, but its influence and reputation have only grown with time.

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CHORUS:
(Vibe, vibrations)
Stakes Is High
You know them Stakes Is High
When we talkin' 'bout the
(Vibe, vibrations)
Stakes Is High, you know them Stakes Is High
We be talkin’ ‘bout the
(Vibe, vibrations)
Stakes Is High
You know them Stakes Is High

POS:
The insta-matic focal point bringin’ damage to your borough
Be some brothers from the East with them beats that be thorough
Got the solar gravitation so I'm bound to pull it
I gets down like brothers are found ducking from bullets
Gun control means using both hands in my land
Where it's all about the cautious livin'
Migratin’ to a higher form of consequence, compliments
Of strugglin', that shouldn't be notable
Man every word I say should be a hip hop quotable

DAVE:
I'm sick of bitches shakin' asses
I'm sick of talkin' 'bout blunts, sick of Versace glasses
Sick of slang, sick of half-ass awards shows
Sick of name brand clothes
Sick of R&B bitches over bullshit tracks
Cocaine and crack which brings sickness to blacks
Sick of swoll head rappers with their sickening raps
Clappers & gats, makin' the whole sick world collapse
The facts are gettin' sicker even sicker perhaps
I stickabush to make a bundle to escape this synapse

POS:
Man, life can get all up in your ass, baby, you betta work it out
Now let me tell you what it's all about
A skin not considered equal
A meteor has more right than my people
Who be wastin' time screaming who they've hated
That's why the Native Tongues has officially been re-instated

POS:
Yo, it's about love of cars, love for funds
Lovin’ to love mad sex, lovin’ to love guns
Love for opposite, love for fame and wealth
Love for the fact of no longer lovin’ yourself, kid
We livin’ in them days of the man-made ways
Where every aspect is vivid
These brothers no longer talk shit
Yo, these niggas live it
'Bout to give it to you 24/7 on the microphone
Plug Won translatin’ the zone
No offense to a player, but yo, I don't play
And if you take offense, fuck it, got to be that way
J.D. Dove, show your love, what you got to say?

DAVE:
I say G's are makin’ figures at a high regard
And niggas dyin’ for it nowadays ain't odd
Investing in fantasies and not God
Welcome to reality, see times is hard
People try to snatch the credit, but can't claim the card
Showing out in videos, saying they co-starred
See, shit like that will make your mama cry
Better watch the way you spend it cause the


DAVE:
I think that smiling in public is against the law (what?)
Cause love don't get you through life no more
It's who you know and "How you, son?"
And how you gettin' in, and who the man holding heat
Yo, and how was the skins and how high
Yo what up, ha? I heard you caught a body
Seem like every man and woman shared a life with John Gotti
(But they ain't organized! )
Mixing crimes with life enzymes
Taking the big scout route and niggas “No doubt”
Better than they know their daughters and their sons
(Oh boy)

POS:
Yo, people go through pain and still don't gain
Positive contact, just like my main man
Who got others cleaning up his physical and fluids
His mind got congested
He got the nine and blew it
Neighborhoods are now hoods cause nobody's neighbors
Just animals surviving with that animal behavior
Under I, who be rhymin’ from dark to light sky
Experiments when needles and skin connect
No wonder where we live is called the projects
When them Stakes Is High you damn sure try to do
Anything to get the piece of the pie
Electrify, even die for the cash
But at last we be out even though you wantin' more
This issue is closed like an elevator door
But soon re-opened once we get to the next floor with the

#StakesIs30

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