The song "Patti Dooke" deals with what the group sees as the mainstream's efforts to control the direction of black music.

The album was preceded by the single and video "Breakadawn", which features samples from Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" and Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm".

At the end of 1993, Buhloone Mindstate was voted the eighth best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice.

[15] In a contemporary review, Rolling Stone critic Paul Evans said the record was more focused than De La Soul's previous albums and also more ambitious sonically: "Musically, Buhloone Mindstate raises the stakes; it gets to something rap seldom achieves – a truly gorgeous groove.

"[16] In 2005, comedian Chris Rock named it the 10th greatest hip hop record of all time in a list published by Rolling Stone.