A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip-hop group that forms in St. Albans, Queens, New York, in 1985 and remains active until 2017. The group’s core line-up consists of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White. It is also associated with the Native Tongues collective.

Style and significance

The group is widely identified with alternative hip hop and jazz rap, alongside boom bap, conscious hip hop, East Coast hip hop and hip hop. It is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip hop and as one of the most influential groups of the 1990s. Its music combines hip hop with jazz elements, including bebop and hard bop samples, and it records with musicians such as double bassist Ron Carter. The group’s lyrics often address social issues through Q-Tip’s philosophical approach and Phife Dawg’s more everyday perspective.

Albums and releases

The group’s debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990), receives a five-mic rating from The Source, the first time the magazine awards that score. Its second album, The Low End Theory (1991), is jazz-influenced and helps shape alternative hip hop in the 1990s. The group’s other studio albums are Midnight Marauders (1993), Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996), The Love Movement (1998) and We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service (2016), which is its final album. That final record is still incomplete when Phife Dawg dies in March 2016 and is completed by the remaining members.

Breakup, reunion and recognition

The group breaks up shortly before the release of The Love Movement, then reunites in 2006 and tours the United States. All six of its albums are certified gold or platinum, making it the most commercially successful act in the Native Tongues collective. A Tribe Called Quest receives the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards Founders Award in 2005, is honoured at the 4th VH1 Hip Hop Honors in 2007, and wins the Brit Award for International Group in 2017. The group is also the subject of the 2011 documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport.

Influence

A Tribe Called Quest is credited with changing the sound of hip hop through its production style, and its influence extends to artists such as Dr. Dre, Pete Rock, Scarface, Pharrell Williams, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, André 3000, Kanye West and Talib Kweli. It is also credited with helping launch the solo careers of Busta Rhymes, J Dilla and Consequence.