De La Soul’s third album, 1993’s Buhloone Mindstate, is a totem of hip-hop self-expression, the oft-quoted line from “In the Woods”—“Fuck being hard, Posdnuos is complicated”—serving as something between poetic exhale and mission statement. Enjoying a sunrise after the darkness of De La Soul Is Dead, the trio (on their final album with Prince Paul behind the decks) revels in the freedoms of jazz music (Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis all provide support) and a border-free worldview. (“Long Island Wildin’” features rappers Scha Dara Parr and Takagi Kan, who rap in their native Japanese.)

In the year of gangsta rap’s pop triumph, De La maintain a speed limit on the road less travelled, staying true to themselves in an age of sellouts (“It might blow up, but it won’t go pop”) and crime-infatuated consumers (“I be the in ’cause the brother holdin’ Glocks is out/I be the in ’cause the pusher runnin’ blocks is out”). “I Am I Be” is a landmark moment of diaristic rap writing, where Posdnuos talks about label woes, rent troubles, racist America and the dissolution of the Native Tongues crew in one powerful, metaphor-filled verse.

Tracklisting

1. Eye Patch (2:27)
2. En Focus (3:15)
3. Patti Dooke (5:54)
4. I Be Blowin’ (4:58)
5. Ego Trippin’ (Part Two) (3:52)
6. 3 Days Later (2:39)
7. Area (3:31)
8. I Am I Be (5:03)
9. In The Woods (4:03)
10. Breakadawn (4:15)
11. Stone Age (4:13)

Apple Music

Videos

De La Soul - Intro (Official Audio)

More Videos

• De La Soul - Eye Patch (Official Audio)
• De La Soul - En Focus (Official Audio) ft. Dres, Shortie No Mass
• Patti Dooke (Official Audio)
• De La Soul - I Be Blowin’ (Official Audio) ft. Maceo Parker
• De La Soul - Long Island Wildin’ (Official Audio) ft. Scha Dara Parr & Takagi Kan
• De La Soul - Ego Trippin’ (Part Two) (Official Music Video) [HD] ft. Shortie No Mass
• De La Soul - Paul’s Revenge (Official Audio)
• De La Soul - 3 Days Later (Official Audio)
• De La Soul - Area (Official Audio)
• De La Soul - I Am I Be (Official Audio) ft. Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis
• De La Soul - In The Woods (Official Audio) ft. Shortie No Mass
• De La Soul - Breakadawn (Official Music Video) [HD]
• De La Soul - Dave Has a Problem…Seriously (Official Audio)
• De La Soul - Stone Age (Official Audio) ft. Biz Markie

Release Images

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Release Information