A Tribe Called Quest - The Rap Tribe That Rediscovered Jazz

Native Tongues is a New York collective that was central in turning hip-hop into something more engaged, imaginative and Afrocentric. The main way they brought about this change was by bringing spiritual and social themes into their lyrics, broadening the scope and variety of topics as much as possible. Musically, the collective's signature sound favored soft beats, long and sinuous basslines, and a strong love for jazz. Thanks to the collective's enthusiasm, the Jungle Brothers found success as pioneers of jazz-rap with "Straight Out The Jungle" (1988) and "Done By The Forces Of Nature" (1989). The collective's figureheads, however, would turn out to be De La Soul (with the essential "3 Feet High And Rising" from 1989) and A Tribe Called Quest.

It all began with two childhood friends, Q-Tip (Kamaal Ibn John Fareed) and Phife Dawg (Malik Izaak Taylor), both music lovers from Queens, New York. They were joined by Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White. The four thus became a quartet, named as such thanks to the Jungle Brothers themselves. After a stint with Geffen Records, they found a home at Jive Records, already the label behind Boogie Down Productions.

Q-Tip is my title, I don’t think that it’s vital

For me to be your idol

("Push It Along")

People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm (1990) is one of hip-hop's classics, one of the manifestos of the genre's alternative wing. Begun in late 1989, recording stretched into the early months of the new decade, the Nineties it would go on to indelibly mark. The chosen location was Calliope Studios, a place where no one seemed to dictate to the artists what they should or shouldn't do - probably one of the key conditions that let the band's creativity flow freely. Hypnotic grooves, sensuous and fluid rapping, and an enjoyable, smooth sound that wins you over without ever hammering you are the record's defining elements. The group's love of Black music, mainly jazz and R&B, gives the album a sonic palette that was unusual for its time, a key ingredient in a relaxed, laid-back, almost lazy musical blend.

The long, flowing "Push It Along" (almost 8 minutes), one of the most representative moments of their style, features an extended handclap section with a gospel spirit. "Luck Of Lucien" is a fluid rap over hazy, nocturnal jazz, soft and richly atmospheric. "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo" plays around with a guitar line, while "Bonita Applebum" is a great moment of smooth, sensuous, soft hip-hop. "Can I Kick It?", sampling Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side", captures the record's omnivorous atmosphere perfectly. And then "Mr. Muhammad", "Go Ahead In The Rain" and "Description Of A Fool" bring to a close an album that deservedly became a classic, marked by an elegant atmosphere, Q-Tip's laid-back rapping, and a warm, enveloping sound beautifully colored by jazz. After the album's release, the group lost Jarobi White.

My pops used to say, it reminded him of bebop

I said, ‘Well, daddy don’t you know that things go in cycles’

("Excursions")

The album is widely credited with reconnecting the jazz tradition to hip-hop, showing that the two styles share a common cultural root. It was also included by Rolling Stone in its "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", at number 153. Higher placings among hip-hop entries on that list went to other genre milestones such as "Straight Outta Compton" (1988) by N.w.a. (144th), "The Chronic" (1992) by Dr. Dre (138th), "Ready To Die" (1994) by Notorious B.i.g. (134th), "Raising Hell" (1986) by Run-Dmc (123rd), "Late Registration" (2005) by Kanye West (118th) and "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988) by Public Enemy (48th). Time cited it in its "All-Time 100", and the influential music bible AllMusic.com considers it "the most cohesive and fluid hip-hop album ever made". The album, partly thanks to this acclaim, had sold over a million copies by 1995.

Street poetry is my everyday

But yo, I gotta stop when you trot my way

("Electric Relaxation")

With their third album, Midnight Marauders (1993), the group plays with everything they'd built up until then, blending it all with some more immediate beats. "Steve Biko" is almost psychedelic and "Award Tour" is a blend of jazz and organ. "A Million Stories" is dark and nocturnal, while "Sucka Nigga" is a little gem of jazz-rap.

To reaffirm their status as the champions of elegant hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest carve out "Electric Relaxation", a gem of hallucinated lounge-rap built around the two voices.

There's no shortage of fun moments, above all "Oh My God", with its double bass. Fluid and mature, their jazz-rap flows from the very start of the first track right through to the closing "Lyrics To Go", confirming a complete mastery of the style they themselves coined. The only thing that diminishes the album is the two works that preceded it in their discography. It's precisely Midnight Marauders, closing out the band's peak period, that becomes their first bestseller.

Announced as the group's final work, The Love Movement (1998) is the least inspired album in their discography, propped up only by a few collaborations, in particular "Steppin' It Up", featuring Busta Rhymes and Redman. The group is struggling and tries to return to the sunnier tones of the past, but this time there seem to be too few ideas to put into music, and all the original innovative drive has been lost.

The fog and the smog of news media that logs

False narratives of Gods that came up against the odds

We’re not just nigga rappers with the bars

It’s kismet that we’re cosmic with the stars

(“We The People”)

It takes 18 years for hip-hop's most famous tribe to return to the scene, following up on their fifth album. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (2016) is released the same year that Phife Dawg, a member second only to Q-Tip in talent and charisma, tragically passes away. The group's sixth record is conceived to be their last. It's not an innovative work, but it is viscerally a product of A Tribe Called Quest. From the very first track ("The Space Program") the intent is made perfectly clear.

The choices of lyrics, beats and even guests (from old friends like Busta Rhymes to new school names like Kendrick Lamar) were made precisely with the intent of producing a record that brings things full circle. Q-Tip and Phife manage to understand each other perhaps even better than on the masterpiece of 25 years earlier; even Jarobi's contribution (rapping for the first time on a group album) is striking.

There can be no doubt about the members' desire to produce something capable of leaving its mark one last time. For precisely this reason, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your service is perhaps one of the best-executed farewells in the history of music.

Contributions by Luca Bazzana ("We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your service")