Weisbard, Eric (1995). "De La Soul". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp.104–05. ISBN 0-679-75574-8. GQ : And of course the remix became almost the definitive Native Tongues record. Like you said, “the posse cut.” Johnson, Brett (November 1993). "De La Soul: Buhloone Mindstate". The Source. No.50. New York. p.75 . Retrieved June 13, 2012.

The echoes of Buhloone Mindstate reverberate beyond the confines of its initial release, capturing the essence of an era while simultaneously transcending it. The album's influence is palpable in the tapestry of today's hip-hop landscape, where its experimental spirit lives on in artists who refuse to be bound by genre. The cultural impact of De La Soul's third opus is measured not just in sales or accolades but in the intangible ways it has shaped the dialogue around what hip-hop can be—intellectually rich, musically diverse, and boundlessly creative. As hip-hop continues to evolve as a global force, Buhloone Mindstate stands as a beacon of artistic freedom, a reminder that commercial success and critical acclaim are not mutually exclusive with cultural contribution. Despite its inextricable shortcomings, the efforts of De La Soul result in Buhloone’s status as their tightest, strangest and, ironically, most proudly individualistic album. Even as its prioritisation of collective expression failed to incorporate the unseen audience and resulted in a project not half as lauded as its predecessors, its bravely-flown colours and rarefied twists of self-expression have made it an essential puzzle-piece in De La’s legacy. Thirty years on, it’s still worth uncovering. It's good, I like everything that I hear, but I think it drags at points and there's rarely enough going on for me to really dig into it. It's good if you put it on casually, but not great when I really want to listen to music.

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It’s worth noting the self-righteousness in a statement like Pos’, assuming the self-representing idealism they and the rest of the Native Tongues collective exhorted was inherently better, more articulate, than gangsta rap’s depictions of violence and oppression. Whilst the sentiment isn’t as obnoxious as it would become on Stakes is High, it wilfully ignores the politically-conscious heart of gangsta rap and casts Native Tongues’ alternative proposition under a critical eye. Buhloone Mindstate is colourful but complacent, and the removal of hooks takes the possibility of reaching a wider audience (whom De La had reached before, and who would have been forced to consider their arguments) with it. Alternative hip-hop’s influence would only emerge after a further ten years of gangsta rap’s dominance. Weighing their artistic and cultural successes against each other, De La’s settling on Buhloone Mindstate into the role of articulate outsiders is simultaneously laudable and frustratingly short-sighted. Buhloone Mindstate was an album we made when we were comfortable with where we were as De La Soul, knowing that even though a lot of groups around us were doing things they didn’t want to do, we felt confident knowing we weren’t going to change for anyone. … It was just a really relaxed album, a really mellow album, and that’s where we were. Mase and Pos may be feel differently, but to me that was an album I didn’t personally enjoy recording. I can’t even say so much the music, I just didn’t enjoy recording at the time. But from what I hear, you know a lot of De La fans feel that is their favourite album. That’s the album feel most comfortable with, so I’m happy to feel to and to know even during the time of disliking or not even feeling comfortable of what I was doing, I still put my best work into it, so it’s cool.

Buhloone isn’t a particularly happy album, and judging from the lyrics, the group didn’t sound like they were in a “good” place when they recorded it. De La were increasingly bitter about their situation with Tommy Boy, troubled by the more “gangsta”-fied direction that hip-hop was moving towards, and increasingly distraught that the Native Tongues collective was possibly collapsing. DAVE: No, not Paul—Pos actually. Pos had it all mapped out in his head. I don’t think we even got into the studio to do that song for weeks. But he knew exactly what it was gonna be. De La Soul’s third album, Buhloone Mindstate, was released in 1993 as the follow-up to their critically acclaimed sophomore album De La Soul is Dead. It also became their last album to feature production from Prince Paul. The “buhloone mindstate” refers to the concept that their music “might blow up but it won’t go pop.” MASE: How do you know when it’s over for you? But we could all clearly see across the pond when it’s over for somebody else. And when you can almost see it’s over for somebody else and you have such a reverence for them, you just want to help. It was a moment of just tryin’ to be there to help and support keeping a legacy alive.Buhloone Mindstate, delivered a jazzier palette than their two previous albums and has ended up an unduly underrated gem in not only De La’s catalog, but in the story of ‘90s rap in general. It’s soulful, features biting critiques of other rap music of the time and includes collaborations with jazz greats like Maceo Parker. Buhloone Mindstate is a testament to the lyrical greatness and vocal interplay of Posdnuos, Dave and Maseo and no self-respecting rap fan’s collection is complete without it. DAVE: You know, it was pushed in my face how much simplicity and sex sells. Simplicity, sex, and violence really sell. Violence? We weren't there with that. We weren’t really simplistic [Laughs]... POS: I'm talking about when the album first came out. And me and Dave would just be looking at him like, "Man, we was havin' fun making this record!" Like all this stuff you're talking about, it doesn't even matter. Not that it didn't matter. But it wasn't what we took into play for the record. Keller, Martin (October 10, 1993). "De La Soul, 'Buhloone Mind State' (Tommy Boy)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018 . Retrieved April 8, 2017.

Christgau, Robert (March 1, 1994). "Pazz & Jop 1993: Dean's List". The Village Voice . Retrieved June 23, 2020. Working with Maceo was amazing. We always considered ourselves students of music, no matter how well known our songs got. To get to work with someone like that who we respected so much, and to hear what he’s gone through in music was a blessing. It was incredibly valuable from a musician’s standpoint to see how a guy like Maceo vibed just like me, Dave and Q-Tip. We saw how masterful they were from an instrumental standpoint, and we ended up getting it all on video, Fred Wesley playing the trumpet, and Maceo on sax, and us, pulling out the pen and writing. Made up of David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur (R.I.P.), Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer, and Vincent “Maseo” Mason, the trio had been artistic iconoclasts since they dropped their debut LP 3 Feet High and Rising (1989). The problem was, even though their music was deep, layered, and reasonably successful, their record label and much of the record-buying public adopted a surface-level view of their art and perceived them only as hip-hop eccentrics. Tommy Boy Records, which signed the group in the late ’80s, hoped the group would pander to the lowest common denominator and put out happy yet ultimately shallow music. The tension between the group and the label was present on De La Soul Is Dead (1991), their sophomore release. By the time Buhloone Mindstate hit the shelves, things were close to exploding. De La Soul's classic first album, 3 Feet High and Rising - a brilliant, genuinely psychedelic, sincerely fun record - hit streaming services a few months ago Christgau, Robert (2000). "De La Soul: Buhloone Mindstate". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2 . Retrieved September 1, 2011.

In other words, Buhloone Mindstate was a slow-burner. "It's just like an incense that burns slowly," says Pos, "and even after it's finished burning, the smell and what it has left is still there, as opposed to something that's coming in and blowing up, and then when it blows up, it's kind of over." Buhloone Mindstate is the third studio album by American Hip Hop group De La Soul, released on September 21, 1993.