My number 5 selection is one of the greatest albums in hip hop history. Unfortunately, this was one of those times where you hear an artist on the radio for years, but you never get around to buying an album until much later... But when I finally picked one up, I could only regret not having done it sooner...
05. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
The first Tribe song I ever heard (I believe) was Scenario. I remember seeing the video on MTV when I was a kid, and just thinking it was the weirdest video ever. Some years later, I saw a video for Electric Relaxation. That's when Tribe went from being just a group that I knew about, to a group that I really liked. Midnight Marauders was released in 1993, but at the time I was 7 years old and didnt really have the means to buy my own music. It wasnt until 1999, when I was in middle school, making an allowance, and washing cars in the neighborhood for spare money, that I could afford to buy my own music. I'd convinced my mom to let me open an account with BMG Music Club, and when Tribe released their Greatest Hits album, Anthology, it was immediately added to my list of albums to buy.
A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
Around this time was also when Q-Tip had just put out his solo album, Amplified, which was another one I picked up through BMG. (I couldnt buy it in stores cause it had a parental advisory sticker, but for some reason, they left it off the picture in the BMG catalog.) After realizing how much I liked both of these albums, I also ordered Midnight Marauders and The Love Movement. And although The Love Movement had its share of good songs, Marauders always stuck out to me as being their best work.
A Tribe Called Quest - Lyrics To Go
At this point in my life, I was playing in my middle school's Jazz band, and was listening to some of the jazz music that my dad had collected. Hearing Tribe mix Jazzy breaks and samples into their Hip Hop was the perfect mesh for me. At the time, most of my music collection came from the Cash Money vault, so hearing this was such an incredible difference from the norm...
A Tribe Called Quest - We Can Get Down
I think my favorite part of getting all these tribe albums in '99-2000 was that I was basically re-discovering the music. A lot of the songs on these albums, I had heard before and recognized. They were just songs that I never knew were by Tribe. That happens when you're a kid. I cant tell you how many songs I loved as a kid, and grew up to find out that I was a huge fan of Prince... But I digress. This album was only a few years old, but already seemed so nostalgic...
A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour
High Point: "Electric Relaxation." To this day, this is still my favorite Tribe song, and one of my favorite hip hop beats of all time.
Low Point: Ugh, these are getting harder to do... Maybe "God Lives Through" Even though it birthed the phrase, "Not now, but right now!"
A Tribe Called Quest - Sucka Nigga
Now, a few years after I started rhyming myself, I dug out my Anthology cd, and pulled the song titles off the back. I then tried to cram as many song titles as I could into a cohesive 16 bar verse... Then I recorded it. And it's deathly embarrassing. But because we're talking about Tribe and the influence that they had on me... Here it is... For you... You're welcome...
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