Boombox Vibrations: A Tribe Called Quest...Forever

It happened last night. I was in a Mexican restaurant with my very wonderful friend Stacey and out of nowhere we have this conversation about how A Tribe Called Quest is our favorite hip hop group of all time. (Untouchable, in my book...) Our adoration was deep, we rapped random lyrics, laughed hysterically, and reflected on how incredible rap artists like Tribe were and will always be--what they meant to us then and what they mean to us now. We both confessed we have to play A Tribe Called Quest songs about every other day.

A Tribe Called Quest burst onto the scene in the early 90's. Although they were not rap's biggest hitmakers, they have unquestionably become iconic pioneers of hip hop. When one thinks "hip hop purity" A Tribe Called Quest is usually within the next few sentences. They were trailblazers, capturing the hearts of hip hop fans and music lovers in general with their distinctive, playful, jazz-fused intelligent stylings. As lyricists they were poets of the ever-so-clever--the balancing act cat-and-mouse, call-and-response of emcees Q-Tip and Phife Dawg laced with the incredible production of Ali Shaheed Muhammad made them magnificent, exciting, and constantly refreshing. You hear a song like "Can I Kick It?" or "Check the Rhime" and you can't help but nod your head or move your body.

They also released classic albums: (their second release) The Low End Theory and (their third) Midnight Marauders are hailed as not only some of the finest albums of hip hop music, but music period. When I heard Midnight Marauders in the 8th grade, something in me changed. I remember being at my friend Amber's house listening to the song "Award Tour" and learning it lyric for lyric. Age 13 was such an awkward, transitional time for me as a kid but there was something very constant, very assuring about that album. I played it everyday in my Walkman (way before the i-pod, peeps) and it kept me as sane as possible during those emotionally turbulent times.

A Tribe Called Quest disbanding in 1998 had me heart broken--like so many other fans. It symbolized the end of an era (and just as well the beginning of the incessant gaudy commercialism hip hop seems all too obsessed with now--but that's another story for another time.) As Stacey and I rode the R train home from our Mexican restaurant outing, we shared my i-pod listening to "Oh My God", nodding our heads, rhyming lyric for lyric. And I started to wonder about the future of this hip hop, this music I hold so dear. Many claim Hip Hop is Dead. And my only response is a lyric from Q-Tip: "So play the resurrector and bring the dead to life..." WORD.


BONUS:

Q-Tip recently released The Renaissance, which is one of the most exciting hip hop albums in the past few years. The Renaissance is a collage of sonic grooves with Q-Tip's mind-bending lyricism. It is a wondrous collection for any one who loves the inner beauty of hip hop and just loves good music to lay back and nod your head to.