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The Culture Corner: Why De La Soul's 'Buhloone Mindstate' matters 30 years on

XPN | By Raina Douris,
John Morrison
Published October 31, 2023 at 7:18 AM PDT
wxpn

In 1993, De La Soul was an established group in a fast-growing genre.

That year, they released their third album, Buhloone Mindstate — and it was a record that displayed a new level of maturity but also a sense of adventure and musical exploration.

"Buhloone Mindstate helped expand rap music as an art form," World Cafe correspondent John Morrison of the album. "I think that it inspired a lot of people to dig a little deeper with the lyrics and with the emotion."

For today's Culture Corner, John takes you deep into De La Soul's Buhloone Mindstate — what to listen for, how it changed the game, and why it still matters 30 years on.

Copyright 2023 XPN
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Raina Douris
Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, is the host and writer of NPR's daily nationally-syndicated music interview and discovery program World Cafe. She has interviewed artists like Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Questlove and Brandi Carlile, and was a 2022 keynote lecturer on the topic of Folk Music and music discovery at the Chautauqua Institution.
John Morrison
John Morrison is a writer, DJ, and sample-flipper from Philadelphia. As a writer, his work has appeared in NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, Jazz Tokyo, Grammy.com, and more. He is also the host of Culture Cypher Radio, a hip-hop radio show on NPR member station WXPN.