Tribe Called Quest
More hits than the Braves and the Yankees
Originally published in CAKE magazine circa 1993.
Tribe Called Quest came on the hip hop scene a few years ago with “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo” a totally original song that introduced Q-Tip’s rap style to the world along with a funny music video. A fresh and unique sound, yet frustrating because it was obvious that Q-Tip and company were just scratching the surface. The eclectic rhymes wet a lot of appetites, but left curious fans wanting more. Then, two years ago, they dropped the bomb and broke out with “The Low End Theory”, a rap music tour de force with a stripped down sound and deep, jazzy beats. The excellent sophomore release catapulted the New York based crew to the top of the rap charts with their smooth vibe and dope back-and-forth wordplay between rappers Q-Tip and Phife Dawg. Fans of the first EP rejoiced, the new album was slamming. And like the best records (of any kind of music) the Low End Theory is littered with great tracks that draw the listener back for repeated plays, the telltale sign of a modern classic.
After the success of Low End Theory, the group recently dropped their new album, “Midnight Marauders” and after a couple of listening sessions Award Tour definitely is the standout track. This album seems a bit darker and more electronic, with the group exploring new soundscapes such as Electronic Relaxation and Lyrics to Go. I spoke to Phife Dawg and DJ Ali Shaheed prior to their upcoming show in the First Avenue main room in Minneapolis.
One of the pleasant surprises on The Low End Theory was the emergence of Phife Dawg’s lyrical skills. I was curious where he got his inspiration while growing up in Queens, New York. “Yeah, strictly New York at the time. I listened to rappers like KRS-1 and Grand Puba,” he says. And what about the influences of old school groups like Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Flash? “Um, a little bit, but I didn’t get to hear a lot of the old stuff when I was growing up. It was all about hip hop, but as far as going to the jams to see the battles between rappers an so forth, I really didn’t get a chance to do all that. So I would vibe off like, whatever the radio was playing on the weekends. One group I really liked was EPMD.”
The Midnight Marauders album cover is a trip. The record’s artwork incorporates the red, black and green female figure originally introduced on the cover of the The Low End Theory, surrounded by faces of famous rappers like Chuck D, Posdnous, Heavy D and others wearing headphones. Ali Shaheed explains the concept. “ We wanted to show that being that there are a whole bunch of different hip hoppers on there, that’s kind of like showing the unity that hip hop music has.” I mention that I also saw Ice T’s mug among the heads, so they obviously included rap artists outside of New York. Phife replies, “Yeah, rappers period. No matter where you’re coming from.” Ali adds. “We asked everyone we could possibly think of to do it. We had an east coast photo shoot and a west coast photo shoot. It seems like everyone thinks hip hoppers are so negative and that we’re all up against each other and it’s not true. We’re not. We’re all in it for the same thing.”
Unity is a popular topic in regards to the current Afrocentrism movement in New York based artists like De La Soul, Queen Latifah and the JB’s (Jungle Brothers) among others. But while loosely associated with these groups, TCQ prefers not to be labelled or categorized. “We’ve never tried to be preachy as far as showing our Afrocentricity. We never beat people over the head with any type of of social issue or religious message. We may just discuss something or rap about whatever issue. Our thing is just let’s have fun with the music. I know Phife loves the microphone and Q-Tip, I know he likes the microphone. It’s just like us saying, ‘yo I’m on this mic and I’m goin’ off! That’s what the old school hip hop was all about. It was just how fly you could get and how stylistic you could rhyme and what you were trying to do. It’s a lifestyle, we do hip hop music first and foremost,” says Ali.
The positive messages of Afrocentrism and unity seem to be in contrast to the negative publicity surrounding the controversial rappers Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur out west. What about the California Gangsta-Rap movement? “Well, first of all, what they do in their private lives has nothing to do with hip hop music. They’re just individuals within the music industry like any rock n roller or whatever. As far as Snoop is concerned, I think he is a dope motherfucker.” Phife says, “That’s really their own business.” Ali chimes in and adds, “If an individual wants to say something negative, that’s on themselves and on they’re own conscience to say that maybe I’m poisoning the mind of this or that child so maybe I should change. Its really not for any of us to judge. And if people are going to judge, then they should also think about all those violent movies that are out and all the negative stuff on television 24 hours a day. Music is only a certain part of a person’s life. Thirdly, you have to think about the parents who are not policing their kids. When the media wants to speak about hip hop being a negative influence, I think they need to address all those issues I just mentioned. Until they do I think they just need to leave the hip hop community the fuck alone.”
While there were various cameos on the Low End Theory album, with Leaders of the New School appearing on the breakout track, Scenario, Midnight Marauders was almost exclusively Q-Tip and Phife Dawg doing the rhyming. “Yeah, its basically just us three on the album. We wanted to keep it really tight,” says Phife. Ali expands, “We decided to keep it among the three of us because on the last one we kind of left off on Scenario and that was the last taste in everyone’s mouth. After that it seemed like everyone started doing a lot of Scenario type records where a lot of rappers would appear on one song. It just seemed like that was what was expected and we always try not to do what everyone expects us to do.”
While Award Tour was probably their tightest track, I was more curious about the message behind the song, Sucka Nigga. There was a pause and then Ali says, “Sucka Nigga is just a song stating the fact that we, mostly the youth, use the word as portrayed as a negative word. For our parents and the generations before us that’s a really hard word. Saying it frowns up a lot of faces and the whole nine yards. The older generations look at us and say like you guys are bad or wrong for putting this word in your everyday usage, and its kind of like us (the youth) saying you’re right and I’m not supposed to say it, bit sometimes it just comes out. Hopefully in the future we can correct ourselves and all stop saying that word.”
The last question was if their are songs written independently or created collaboratively? Ali says, “Yeah, it’s a collaboration where we all just get together and shake our heads to it.” Phife chuckles and adds, “Or….we don’t shake our heads to it.”
Author Notes:
Tribe Called Quest would eventually become associated with the Native Tongues collective of hip hop artists based mostly in New York City in the late eighties/early nineties.
Sadly, Phife Dawg passed away in 2016
The group released their sixth and final album, We got it form here….Thank you 4 your service in November, 2016.
Originally published in CAKE magazine circa 1993.
