Words by Jimmy Valentime

People have moaned and groaned about the state of rap music, long before Puffy took that Shiny Suit to the stratosphere.

This winter a debate was started by Nas uttering the words “Hip-Hop is Dead”. That one statements gained enough momentum to start a national debate that’s notoriety had both CNN and PBS running specials on the cultural demise of Hip Hop.

Stakes Is High by De la Soul was the first major label album to be critical of the “Champagne Wishes and Cocaine Dreams” era. The writer Kris Ex called the album, “Ground Zero for the Playa Hater Movement.” Just Blaze once said, that you are either a fan of It Was Written Or Stakes Is High; you could not be a fan of both.

Unlike Nas’s Hip-Hop Is Dead, Stakes Is High, puts the blame of the decline of Hip-Hop, on the artists, on women, for enjoying “bullshit tracks” and YOU the listener, for not wanting more out of the music.

The album is combative towards the whole generation of emcees coming up at the time. While most people felt that De La Soul was talking about The Bad Boy camp through out the album, they also spit pretty hard about “The Wu-Gambinos” on the single, “Itsoeazzy” where Dave states,

“See them Cubans don’t care what y’all niggaz do/ Colombians ain’t never ran with your crew / Why you acting all spicy and sheisty/The only Italians you knew was icees/niggaz price me”

Ironically, the only person who took offense to this criticism was not Puffy or Ghost Deni, but Tupac.

Tupac was a mix of pissed and annoyed that De La Soul was trying to crash his gangster party. Pac had he given De La Soul props on the song “Old School”. He later went at them on the track “Against All Odds.”

“All you old rappers trying to advance/It’s all over now, take it like a man./Niggas lookin like Larry Holmes, flabby and sick (like De La Soul)/Tryin to player hate on my shit, you eat a fat dick…”

You can listen here as Tupac explains why he dissed De La Soul and vents on his beefs.

Whether the debate is surrouding authencity, talent, or skill. Hip-hop always has and always will be combative. Just make sure you’re argument is as banging as this album was.

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Bonus Beats

Stake Is High Video

Patron Saint of the “Baby Daddy” Murray Povich, makes an appearance in the video.

Jimmy Valentime is a writer and recording artist, he will be writing articles about past and present East Coast hip-hop and his experience in the industry. His most popular songs are Jeans and Cencletas and Evil.

Stray Shots

Prodigy – Return of the Mac Bonus Tracks

Tha_Dogg_Pound-Dogg_Chit-2007

El-P_-_Ill_Sleep_When_Youre_Dead_(Instrumentals)

Redman – Red Gone Wild

Stray Shots

Anybody Holding…

Bunny Rabbit – Lovers and Crypts (2007)

Any Fela Kuti Albums

If so, pass’em over or post them in the comments please.

C.S.A.D.