# What is the best De La Soul album of all time?

> De La Soul spent decades proving hip-hop could be playful, poetic, and experimental all at once — from their sample-heavy daisy age debut to raw independent efforts and a long-awaited comeback. Cast your vote.

*By YPB Team · Published April 15, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-de-la-soul-album-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **3 Feet High and Rising**
   The 1989 debut pioneering sample-heavy daisy age hip-hop with playful, genre-bending creativity that rewrote the rules.
2. **De La Soul Is Dead**
   The 1991 second album that deliberately subverted their hippie image by deconstructing their own mythology.
3. **Buhloone Mindstate**
   The 1993 jazz-influenced album featuring guest appearances from Maceo Parker and elements of Japanese hip-hop.
4. **Stakes Is High**
   The 1996 album critiquing the commercialization of hip-hop with Q-Tip producing the title track.
5. **Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump**
   The 2000 album marking their transition to a harder sound with guest appearances from Redman and LL Cool J.
6. **AOI: Bionix**
   The 2001 follow-up blending alternative hip-hop with electronica and a more introspective lyrical approach.
7. **The Grind Date**
   The 2004 independent album showing a return to raw lyricism with production from Just Blaze and 9th Wonder.
8. **And the Anonymous Nobody...**
   The 2016 album recorded using live session recordings, featuring Estelle, Little Dragon, and Damon Albarn.

Tags: 2000s, hip-hop, music, 80s, 90s, rap, de la soul