[7] De La Soul Is Dead departed from the image that the group had fostered on their previous album, 3 Feet High and Rising.

Reflecting on the album and its goals, producer Prince Paul has stated: We were trying to prove we weren't just a one-album act.

[12] Conversely, group member Posdnuos has argued that De La Soul Is Dead is not as cynical as its reputation suggests, telling The Guardian in 2025: The second album was still bright and fun.

The introduction to the album features Jeff, a teenage character (introduced in the B-sides to "Eye Know" and "Me Myself and I": "Brain Washed Follower," "The Mack Daddy on the Left," and the rare "Double Huey Skit").

The album also introduces a fictional radio station called WRMS that plays nothing but "De La Slow" music.

[4][8] However, when De La Soul Is Dead was ultimately released, its change in stylistic direction led to a divided critical reception.

[4] In contrast, the Los Angeles Times opined that De La Soul were "bitter" and "riding a bummer" on the album,[8] NME felt that they "sound thoroughly bored" and that their attempts at humor "seem an after-thought or forced",[14] and Entertainment Weekly described the album's mood as "smug and self-righteous".

[16] The Chicago Tribune remarked that "the samples are less instantly infectious [and] the tempos slower" than on 3 Feet High and Rising, but that De La Soul Is Dead was nevertheless "nearly as rewarding".

review, meanwhile, identified De La Soul Is Dead as the album on which the group established their "signature sound and style" and "street philosopher image".

[19] A more mixed retrospective review came from Steve Huey of AllMusic, who found the album "less cohesive and engaging" than its predecessor, but still "fascinating in spite of its flaws".

", "Kicked Out the House" and "Not Over till the Fat Lady Plays the Demo", while the cassette omitted "Johnny's Dead AKA Vincent Mason (Live From The BK Lounge)", "My Brother's a Basehead", "Who Do U Worship?"