Listen to A Tribe Called Quest.
Some experiences have the capacity to take you back in time, and music is no exception. I'm lucky I have older sisters with good tastes in music that I got to grow up with. Rap music has changed a lot over the years, and the '90s are often considered the golden era of hip-hop. A Tribe Called Quest is widely considered one of the most important and influential rap groups ever and, as a '90s kid with older siblings, they ended up at the forefront of my musical experience.
“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.”
The group consisted of members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi. Jarobi technically left the group after their first album, but contributed for years and is considered to embody the spirit of the group. Ali created the music and as a rap group, their attitude had a playful, light-heartedness quality to it. Q-Tip was The Abstract and would anchor their intellectual presence. The other MC, Phife Dawg, was the Five Foot Assassin, and footed their pulse and laid-back attitude.
Tribe did more than just make good beats. They were socially conscious - just read about their role in the Native Tongues movement. Their level of sophistication is on the Mount Rushmore of hip-hop. If you disagree, then you just don't know rap. Sure, kids, maybe Chance the Rapper will be up there someday, maybe. But Tribe managed to actually tap into the artistically elusive but potent message about the importance of self-actualizing, about making yourself. Other times, they just rapped about leaving a wallet in El Segundo. The Tribe and their music were sexy, cool, but also smart. They did it all. I'll always remember my sister rapping these words on the track "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)" in our old suburban:
I
am recognizing that the voice inside my head
is
urging me to be myself but never follow someone else
Because
opinions are like voices
we
all have a different kind
So
just clean out all of your ears
these
are my views and you will find that
we
revolutionize over the kick and the snare
The
ghetto vocalist is on a state-wide tear
The group infamously never completed their six-album record deal with Jive Records, leaving their most successful albums "The Low End Theory" and "Midnight Marauders." At the end of their run, A Tribe Called Quest embodied everything that was great about the hip-hop scene of the early to mid '90s. The entire hip-hop landscape changed as sampling rates went through the roof by the end of the decade. Once record companies caught onto the burgeoning rap industry, they chalked up what was foundation of the industry in sampling to nothing more than “stealing” other artists' music for their own gain. Not necessarily untrue - the issue itself has a lot of legal and philosophical gray areas. What matters in terms of the music, however, is that this caused a massive industry shift. This changed not only the actual sounds coming out of the rap industry, but it also limited what accomplished and un-established DJs could work with both creatively and in terms of content.
The majority of the music I listen to isn't rap, but "Midnight Marauders" is hands-down a top five album of all time for me. It's been in my rotation for so many years that it's almost more home than home. It's also a relic considered to be at the top of its craft with lush jazz samples you won't find on a hip-hop record now. They weren't ahead of their time - they arrived at a time when only they could've been what they were. And the best part? Anytime I want I can go back to that moment as a kid somewhere in Colorado in an old suburban listening to a rap album with my sisters by hitting the play button.
