De La Soul - Buhloone Mindstate

De La Soul's third album renounces the pop crossover, mocking wit, and conceptual sprawl of their earlier work in favor of a relaxed, sober set of individual tracks. They also rely more on their friends: there are a couple of top-notch guest shots by Shortie No Mass, and the JB Horns add deliciously jazzy solos and vamps all over the disc. Prince Paul is still producing, but he contents himself with sharp funk and jazz loops. Though not the group's most dazzling work, Buhloone Mindstate has some of the group's finest lyrics: "I Am I Be," a meditation on Black English and identity, and "Breakadawn," a subtle tribute to hip-hop's old school. --Douglas Wolk Amazon.com essential recording

A TRUE CLASSIC FOR REAL HEADS

This album is in my top ten ALL TIME, all types of music. I started listening to hip hop in 1987 and I remember the first time I listened to this album. It blew my mind with its creativity and innovative beats and rhymes. I recall one summer when I was in Israel and I would listen to the entire album every night before I fell asleep.

If you are a true head, buy it! De La is the truth! June 28, 2008

"It Might Blow Up, But It Won't Go POP!" (Rating: 9 out of 10- -4.5 stars)

Before you start, if you do not have De La Soul's first two albums, 3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul Is Dead, go out and buy BOTH albums, and then finish reading this review...

Lets admit it, you slept on this album when this came out. Was it because they didn't match up to their two classics 3 Feet High and Rising and De La Soul Is Dead? Or was it because people was still eating off what was going on out on the west coast? Either way, De La Soul's third album was ignored by the masses.

Some people claim that it Buhloone Mindstate was too weird for it's own good. Well what do you expect with a track that starts with bizzare screaming on "Ego Trippin (Part 2)". I believe stuff like that is what makes this De La album uniquely. Or with one of their singles "Breakadawn", which I believe is the best track on the album.

Of course De La Soul can still kick rhymes as usually. Posdenous and Dave come correct on "Eye Patch" and "En Focus". I also gotta give props to "Area" when they gave a shoutout of my hometown, Atlanta, which was 404 (For anyone in ATL, 770 didn't exist when this album was created, and 678 is illegitimate) I thought Dres of Black Sheep would have had the most random appearance on this LP, but that goes to Guru of Gang Starr on "Patti Dooke". Even Biz Markie comes in and beat boxes on the last track "Stone Age"

This album is very fun, but in a different direction as their first two LP's. Put it this way; if you're a fan of De La's crazy antics, you will love this album. It's always great when De La comes up with different concepts and have fun doing so. That showed you that '93 could also be a year where rap could be simple and fun, and not just full of gangsta rap. Peace.

Lyrics: A+
Production: A+
Guest Appearances: A
Musical Vibes: A-

Top 5 Tracks:
1. Breakadawn
2. Ego Trippin (Part 2) (featuring Shortie No Mass)
3. Stone Age (featuring Biz Markie)
4. En Focus (featuring Dres)
5. I Am I Be...(featuring Shortie No Mass)

Honorable Mention:
1. Patti Dooke (featuring Guru)
2. Eye Patch June 25, 2008

"I'm thinkin' how a 9 and a blunt is a switch, but turn out the lights and some will go B__ch!"

I was introduced to De La Soul when I saw the video for "Potholes In My Lawn" on the Video Jukebox when I was in high school. I wasn't instantly hooked on the track but the more I heard the song, I started to like what I was hearing. The next video I saw from De La Soul was "Me, Myself And I". The song sounded nice so I decided to buy the cassette to 3 Feet High and Rising. Once the cassette was put in my stereo at the time, it didn't leave for a long time, unless I was taking the cassette over to a friends house to listen to while we played video games. The skits were hilarious and I also enjoyed other tracks such as "Eye Know", "Jenifa Taught Me", "Plug Tunin'", "Buddy" w/Jungle Brothers and Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, "Say No Go" and "D.A.I.S.Y. Age". You wouldn't catch me walking around in colorful or nonmatching clothes, but I loved every other aspect of the Daisy Age and this cassette stayed in heavy rotation for a long time before I eventually bought the CD. "3 Feet High & Rising" was released in 1989 and I was definitely looking forward to hearing the next De La Soul CD. I finally began to hear a track entitled "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" and this time I was instantly hooked on the track. In 1991, De la Soul released their 2nd CD entitled De La Soul Is Dead. This CD was supposed to be the anti-Daisy Age CD, which in some aspects it was but in otherways this CD contained various tracks that reminded you of "3 Feet High & Rising". Tracks such as "Oodles Of O's", "A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" and even "Bitties In The BK Lounge" reminded me of what I liked on "3 Feet High & Rising". My other favorite tracks included "Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa", "Keepin' The Faith", and "Pass The Plugs". I enjoyed "3 Feet High & Rising" more but "De La Soul Is Dead" is just as nice.

I began to hear a track entitled "Breakadawn" on the radio and that's when I learned De La's 3rd CD was in the works. The track sampled 2 of my favorite old school tracks "I Can't Help It" by Michael Jackson and "Quiet Storm" from Smokey Robinson. I grew impatient waiting for the CD to be released so I purchased the cassette Maxisingle to "Breakadawn" which also featured the track "En Focus". Once I heard "En Focus", I even wanted the full length CD to be released even sooner as Prince Paul had cooked up another tight beat and Dres from Black Sheep even joined De La on the track to add a little something to it. "Buhloone Mind State" was released in 1993. The CD started off with the infectious "Eye Patch" which got things off to a nice start. Just when you wanted the song to last a little longer, Mase (Plug 3) ends things off giving shouts out to the rappers that were dissin' De La Soul and what they could do with theirselves. "Patti Dooke" features Guru from Gang Starr on the chorus as De La take time out to to summarize the current state of what was going on in some parts of the rap world. Posdnuos (Plug 1) rips 3 verses after Trugoy (Plug 2) starts things off nicely. It seemed at the time that labels were trying to push artists to start making songs that would cater to multiple audiences. Instead of just putting a beat on and rhyming to it, the labels wanted rappers to make wack rap tracks with singers in the background or to water down their current style so that their music would be "accepted" by many other audiences. What the labels didn't understand was that, artists at the time, didn't make records for specific people. If the product was nice, eventually it would make it to the people that were supposed to get it. Why change up your style to try to satisfy certain classifications of people? The 2nd single was Ego Trippin' (Part 2). The track made various references to old school hip hop tracks and it seemed as a tribute track to the rap pioneers before them. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks on "Buhloone Mind State". "3 Days Later" describes 2 separate situations that can happen when you are trying to chase the female gender. Crystal seemed fly at first to Plug 1 but once he had to go to see the doctor, he definitely thought otherwise. Plug 2's date with Smokey Sue basically never happened because they got stopped on the way and robbed. De La can always create some interesting sceanrios on certain tracks. "Area" is another fun jam that gives props to all the area codes around the U.S. "And my 202 keeps me marvelous"..lol I was glad that they shouted out the DC/MD/VA area. "I Am I Be" holds more of a serious tone as Pos takes time out to touch on the state of the Native Tongues, which obviously wasn't good at the time. The slow, jazzy track provided a smooth backdrop to the state of the song making this my 2nd favorite track behind "Breakadawn". "In The Woods" ends up being another fun track as Plug 2 and Shortie No Mass display tremendous chemistry to flow through the 1st verse and after Pos raps a nice verse, Shortie is given an opportunity to shine on her own. Biz Markie joins De La Soul on the last track entitled "Stone Age". The "Lonely Days" sample provides a nice beat and De La and Biz rap together like they had actually done an album together before. Obviously, De La rips the verses and Biz does a good job with his ad libs and beat box.

Overall, this made it 3 for 3 for De La Soul and once Stakes Is High was released in 1996 that made it 4 for 4 when it came to classic CDs that had been released by De La. Many of their fans may say that different CDs may be their own personal favorites but most of them will agree that each of these 1st 4 CDs were atleast 4.5 out of 5 stars. De La Soul would go on to release Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, AOI: Bionix, and 2004's The Grind Date. These releases were nice as well but only "The Grind Date" came close to living up to the first 4 classic releases, while both AOI releases were decent and definitely had their moments.

In some cases, De La Soul doesn't get their just due in my opinion. They may be overlooked in some people's eyes but anybody that keeps up with real hip hop knows that De La Soul is one of the best rap groups of all time.

P.S. If you are a true De La Soul fan and you don't own the 12" video remix to "Buddy" then you should also check out Timeless: The Singles Collection.

James' Top 5

1) Breakadawn
2) I Am, I Be
3) Patti Dooke w/Guru from Gang Starr
4) Ego Trippin' Part 2
5) En Focus w/Dres from Black Sheep

Honorable Mention:

Eye Patch
Area
In The Woods w/Shortie No Mass
Stone Age w/Biz Markie March 3, 2008

One for the "island"

Yo washup ya'll ... I don't listen to rap anymore ... but if I had to be exiled to an island wit just me and my honey and the choice of 3 rap albums I'd pick Run DMC, Ultramagnetic's 1st and this one. Seriously, I used to argue all the time with my high school pal who was better, De La or Tribe CQ. I said Tribe was better overall, but individual De La songs were better than anything Tribe had ever done. I don't believe that anymore and . . . hm, now I think of it I'd like to bring "Low End Theory" too but couldn't knock out any of the above three.... "Stakes Is High" was cool here & there but in a totally different way and you could tell De La was De La but De Low everafter. October 21, 2007

Pop

De La Soul's third attempt Buhloone Mindstate completely written, produced and performed by the group and Prince Paul with a more mainstream appeal as stated in "Intro" "...it may blow up, but it won't go pop..." "Eye Patch" is this LP's first full length song over anchored by a simple guitar sample loop. Speeding up just a bit with a three chord bass lick on "En Focus" featuring Shortie No Mass & Dres for a classic hip-hop feel. One of the standouts, "Patti Dooke" featuring Guru has members from James Brown's band to add to the lively sound. "I Be Blowin'" is an instrumental imporved by horn player Maceo Parker that gave this album a richer, universal feel. To add to the multiple surprises "Long Island Wildin'" featuring SDP & Takagi Kan flows in Japanise without any performance from De La. Infamous hip-hop quotable from Posdnuos "...I'm something like a phenomenom..." will be found on "Ego Trippin' (Part Two)". This track is a standout because here you can hear both Plug 1 and Plug 2 orthodox, abstract styles are perfectly blends with the track. "Paul's Revenge" is an interlude where Prince Paul goes off about how critics rate and write over a break beat. "3 Days Later" is about an sexual experience with a message underlined. Wear condoms. Speaking on the places De La has wrecked and performed with great success on "Area" as they spit on the diffenent area codes over a sampled guatar loop. The one filler that was full of features quoting the title "I Am I Be" could have been left out. "In The Woods" featuring Shortie No Mass doesn't let up as it keeps on track with the album's concept. For Buhloone Mindstate "Breakadawn" is the highlight for the album with grooving bass that solidified this as classic material. Sounding like voice message footage going to left field "Dave Has A Problem...Seriously" is a great comedic interlude. Taking it back, "Stone Age" featuring Biz Markie bridges times to concludes this album on a good foot. This is an solid album with only one road bump, but this isn't the best overall album from De La Soul as their previous two. Fans of the group will not feel like this a let down. Buhloone Mindstate sounds more or less like it was an experimental project that seem to work. November 6, 2006

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