The streaming version of the album divides "The Bizness" into two tracks, "The Bizness" and "Yunonstop". Stakes Is High marked the first time De La Soul did not collaborate with longtime producer Prince Paul on an album, as the group felt that the production he turned in for it didn't match the album's mood.

A very sobering, serious track that differs vastly from the playful music that De La Soul has always been known for.I think that the energy we put into that song was similar to that of what Marvin Gaye put into “What’s Going On.

In 2023, Billboard and Stereogum ranked the song number six and number two, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest De La Soul songs. I look back on people like that and think about how they had that moment of clarity, where they looked around them and at things decaying in their society–whether it’s music or life, that’s where “Stakes is High” was at. At the end of track 9, "Long Island Degrees", a "redneck" explains why he hates rap music ("There's no music in it. Like other De La Soul albums, Stakes Is High has a running theme, which in this case is the group's concern about the state of rap, as well as the state of hip hop culture and how it is regarded in general.Here, they're no longer so self-conscious and it's easy to remember why you liked them enough in the first place to stick with them through the hard times. Tip is playing this new beat for Pos from Dilla and based on the history that those two have, anytime Pos gave a head nod to some shit, Q-Tip ended up keeping the beat and try to make something out of it, so he tried to use reverse psychology on this particular one. Da Inna Sound, Y'all) philosophy on their brilliant and weird debut, Three Feet High and Rising (making them the first—and probably only—hip-hop act to appropriate a Johnny Cash song for their album title).

All the tracks are as original from what I can hear, no edits which is too common with Hip Hop reissues. The clip at the end of the final track, "Sunshine", closes the album with a young man saying "Yo, when I first heard 3 Feet High and Rising, I was" and then the clip is cut out in similar fashion to " Fight the Power" in Public Enemy's legendary album, Fear of a Black Planet. The song included many memorable lines such as Posdnous' " Gun control means using both hands in my land.

Dilla was excited because here we are at this point in time where Dilla had already been seasoned in the game doing different things in the name of The Ummah, working with different artists but hadn’t did a De La Soul record. Great to see so many other reviewers echoing what I'm feeling about this record - its absolute quality!