A Tribe Called Quest

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group from Queens, New York, formed in 1985. Rapper and producer Q-Tip and rapper Phife Dawg were childhood friends. With DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad and rapper Jarobi White they made demos on beats that Q-Tip pieced together with a cassette deck. They got their name in 1988 from the Jungle Brothers. Together with that group, De La Soul and Queen Latifah they formed the collective Native Tongues: rappers with a positive message, an interest in African roots and a broad taste in samples.

Music and breakthrough

The debut People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990) was playful, with samples from jazz, funk, soul and rock and tracks such as Can I Kick It? and Bonita Applebum. On The Low End Theory (1991) jazz really moved to the centre. The production was bare: voice, drums and bass, with a relaxed atmosphere drawn from bebop and hard bop. Jazz bassist Ron Carter played double bass on Verses from the Abstract. Q-Tip and Phife Dawg now rapped in turns, and that interplay became their trademark. Midnight Marauders (1993) brought Award Tour and Electric Relaxation.

Influence

After Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996) and The Love Movement (1998) the group split up. In 2016 one more album appeared, with contributions from Phife Dawg, who had died shortly before. A Tribe Called Quest is regarded as one of the pioneers of jazz rap and alternative hip hop, and also inspired neo-soul. In 2024 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Listening

• 
  Verses from the Abstract · A Tribe Called Quest, 1991

Discography

Studio albums

• 1990People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
• 1991The Low End Theory
• 1993Midnight Marauders
• 1996Beats, Rhymes and Life
• 1998The Love Movement
• 2016We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 5: Jazz Festival^NL Reader
• After Hours: Session 4^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Jazz rap GenreA Tribe Called Quest built The Low End Theory (1991) on jazz samples and had the bassist Ron Carter play on it.

See also

• People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
• We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service