De La Soul: Buhloone Mind State (LP & 2xLP)

"Fuck being hard, Posdnuos is complicated!"

It feels like the summer of 96 all over again! Yes I know this was released a year earlier but I slept on this for a good twelve months before I really started to 'get it'. I put this down to all the Soul Assassins, Ice Cube and generally up tempo, aggressive stuff I was listening to at the time - This LP is like a chilled out July afternoon.

Luckily I now have two versions of this on wax, the original UK Big Life edition and a far superior double vinyl bootleg edition (which is what the LP really deserved).

The highlights are many but if I have to pick then the incredible I Be Blowin' featuring Maceo Parker just slays it (as does the vocal version I Am I Be) and the jazzy Patti Dooke (featuring Guru on the hook) really sets the tone for a classic De La LP. Sadly, there last with Prince Paul.