Tribe Called Quest at the Top of Their Game

Tribe Called Quest is possibly one of the trippiest, mot classic acts that came out of the 1990s. The owed their start to the “hippy” rap practiced by the so-called Native Tongues Posse, which also featured De La Soul of “Me, Myself, and I” fame and the legendary and oft-undervalued Jungle Brothers. Call them hippy rappers, or alternative rappers, or just original rappers-call Tribe Called Quest whatever you like, but if consider yourself a rap fan, you need to be listening to them.

And catch them now, too, while they are still in retirement. You see, Tribe Called Quest only produced five albums. Don’t believe me? Look it up. In ten years of success and experimentation, tribe called quest only put out a handful or records. But the records are so dense with classic tunes, that it gives the impression that they had much more out there.

The Fearsome Foursome

Here’s something else you might not know: when the first tribe called quest album came out, there were four band members. They included Phife Dawg, the effervescent Q-Tip, the DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and a fourth fellow by the name of Jarobi White, who also did some rapping for the group.

That first album came out of a 1989 demo tape they made for Geffen Records. Geffen didn’t sign them, but word got out, and record producers came a calling for Tribe Called Quest. They went for quality, not quantity, however, when they signed with Jive Records. The result was “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, which featured such classic Tribe Called Quest songs as “Can I Kick It?” and “Bonita Applebum.”

A Top Album of the 90s

The tribe followed this up with perhaps their biggest album ever, “The Low End Theory.” I am sure some of you can still close your eyes and picture the image on the CD, the green etchings of the three Tribe Called Quest stars. Did I just say three? Yes, at this time, Jarobi had already left the band.

Nevertheless, with the release of this 1991 album and such Tribe Called Quest songs as “Jazz (We’ve Got)” and “Skypager.” It’s in this album that Q-Tip and Phife really start making names for themselves as a dynamic tandem of rappers, each building off the other with funnier, smoother, doper lyrics. And all the while, Ali Shaheed Muhammad is running circles around and through their words with jazz, funk, and bass beat loops.

The Beginnings of the End

“Midnight Marauders” followed in 1993, and here the Tribe Called Quest took no prisoners. The album built on previous success with even catchier, unparalleled Tribe Called Quest lyrics and beats, featured on such tribe called quest hits as “Electric Relaxation” and “Oh My God.” This record sold overall three million copies-the most ever for the band.

Can we keep heaping the praise? Yes, we can, though the fourth and fifth Tribe Called Quest albums could be called minor letdowns from the three first ones. “Beats, Rhymes and Life” reached number one in the charts, but hardcore fans started to sense that the band’s heart wasn’t entirely into it.

Then came “The Love Movement” in 1998, when fans realized their fears were founded. As they announced their new album, the tribe called quest also said it would be their last. They were breaking up. By 2006, they had announced and a reunion tour and a new album, as yet unreleased. So fans, buck up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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