Music & Arts

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

XPN | By Raina Douris,

John Morrison

Published November 1, 2023 at 9:27 AM CDT

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.

Music & Arts

Raina Douris

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She is also involved with Canada's highest music honors: Since 2017, she has hosted the Polaris Music Prize Gala, for which she is also a jury member, and she has also been a jury member for the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.

See stories by Raina Douris

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.