Following the limited release of their Clear Lake Auditorium EP in 1994, De La Soul’s fourth album, Stakes Is High, was released in 1996 and continued the sound shift from their previous full-length album, 1993’s Buhloone Mindstate. Prince Paul didn’t contribute to the production of this album, but De La Soul handled the bulk of the production along with contributions from Spearhead X, Skeff Anselm, DJ Ogee, and Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla, who produced the album’s lead single, the title track “Stakes is High.” The album shines a light on the state of the hip-hop industry through the songs and interludes. With the 1990s seeing a rise in gangsta rap from the West Coast and the more hardcore hip-hop sound coming from East Coast acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, and Mobb Deep to name a few, De La Soul felt that Stakes is High was a make or break moment for them since Buhloone Mindstate didn’t sell well. When reflecting on the album 20 years after its release, Maseo said: That record was do or die. I mean, the whole energy around developing that record, it was a crucial place of not knowing if we was going to continue or we going to be forced to go get regular jobs and become common folk. Get back into the regular lifestyle of 9 to 5 and trying to make it. The album peaked at #13 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with support from the singles “Stakes is High,” “Itzsoweezee (HOT),” and “4 More” with Zhané. The album also features guest appearances from Common and Mos Def.