Who knows if it’ll every see the light of day, but this is dope to see regardless.
On July 2, 1996 De La Soul released their seminal fourth album, Stakes Is High. To kinda-sorta commemorate its anniversary, Posdnuos teased fans with a demo version of the album’s title track. Before J Dilla would get his hands on it and reimagine Ahmad Jamal’s “Swahililand,” the original version utilized a sample of The Heath Brothers “Smilin’ Billy Suite” (used by everybody from Nas to AMy WInehouse to Redman, among others).
“Twenty-seven years ago three Long Island men gave you the Stakes is High and every one of those 27 years [we’ve]l have been blessed with listeners letting us know what this album means to their lives,” Plug Won said on Instagram. “Thank you! Thank you Jay Dee for ‘Dilla-nizing’ our original version of the title track to make it into a Hip Hop sermon!”
Now that they’re finally in control of their own catalog, maybe this version will actually drop? One can only hope.
