A Tribe Called Quest life and biography

A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985 and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip (Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, formerly Jonathan Davis), rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 1991.

Three high-school friends from New York City--Q-Tip, Phife, and Ali--comprise the progressive, quick-witted, hip-hop group known as A Tribe Called Quest. The trio are some of the founding members of, and brightest stars among, the Native Tongues, an informal collective of New York-based rappers that includes De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers, Black Sheep, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah. A Tribe Called Quest's second album, The Low End Theory, demonstrated the group's popularity in February of 1992 by ringing up gold sales, while at the same time illustrating the Tribe's outstanding creativity.

Q-Tip, Phife, Ali, and Jarobi--who would remain a full-fledged member of the group only until 1991--were classmates at New York City's Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers. In 1988 they met the members of De La Soul at a Fourth of July concert. From this holiday congregation was born the Native Tongues. A Tribe Called Quest helped form the musicians' alliance to preserve the essence of hip-hop, maintain rap's sharp edge, and to avoid trite commercialization of the genre. The performers of the Native Tongues are not linked in a formal business sense but perform guest raps on each others' albums and hail each other with affection in their liner notes.

A Tribe Called Quest began their recording career by releasing the single "Description of a Fool" in July of 1989, followed by the memorable "I Left my Wallet in El Segundo" in January of 1990. When offers started pouring in from major record labels across the country, A Tribe Called Quest chose to sign with the distinctly hip-hop-oriented Jive Records, figuring correctly that this label best represented their sound. Q-Tip--also known as the Abstract--the group's lead rapper and chief rhyme crafter, "rhymes like the sound is coming directly out of his throat," according to Source contributor Chris Wilder. Ali serves as the trio's DJ, and Phife, who also goes by Phife Dawg, generally plays the backup role of straight-man to Q-Tip. The group's earliest releases championed a hip-hop sound true to the music's roots. Said a Source reviewer of their unique style, as evidenced on their second release, "Instead of just throwing a beat over a loop, the Tribe combine distinct pieces of music, program their own beats, and transform their samples into a sound that is truly their own."

On their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, A Tribe Called Quest forged a new path in rap by fusing jazz with the pop structure of hip-hop. Art Forum characterized the release by its "jazzy loops, laid-back rapping style, and offbeat rhymes." Q-Tip, a self-proclaimed abstract poet, told Rap Express contributor Michael A. Gonzales, "My father was the one who turned me on to both jazz and poetry. When everyone was looking on old records for beats to rap over, I just pulled out all these jazz albums.... I can play electric bass by ear, but I wanna play an upright bass and form a jazz quartet and play small clubs.... Like the Duke Ellington records my father used to spin. That's the stuff I wanna play." The Tribe's first album was such a bold innovation that other groups quickly began to pilfer their uncommon jazz-rap style.

After the release of Instinctive Travels, Q-Tip contributed his talent for rhyme to Deee-Lite's platinum-selling single "Groove Is in the Heart" and lent a hand to Lenny Kravitz and Sean Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" single. The Tribe as a group contributed cameo raps to the Jungle Brothers album Straight Out of the Jungle and to De La Soul's single "Buddy." In fact, most of the band's material for their first album was written in 1985 and 1986 when they initially began to make rap appearances on the albums of fellow musicians. While in the studio working on their second album, A Tribe Called Quest chalked up an acoustic appearance on MTV's Unplugged, performing with rap heavyweights LL Cool J, MC Lyte, and De La Soul.

The follow-up to People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was dubbed The Low End Theory. The phrase "low end theory" refers to the visceral, bottom-heavy bass sounds and drum beats at the core of the band's music. Explained Q-Tip in The Source, "the music is low and when you hear it loud you feel it." Ali elaborated, remarking, "It's lower than anything--you can't hear it on any Walkman speakers, you need a good system to hear it. That's how deep the frequencies are." Though still heavily influenced by jazz, The Low End Theory is less avant-garde than the Tribe's previous effort; as is suggested in the title, the record provides a more street-oriented sound, offering a simpler, more gut-level hip-hop style than did Instinctive Travels. And though the marked "positivity" of the first record found a place on the second, Low End featured several songs that signaled the group's growing distaste for the music industry.

On that topic Q-Tip has been particularly vocal. Aside from what he and other rappers view as standard record company practice of creating images of rap stars that are sometimes not really representative of the actual artist and a tendency to condescend to the artist, the leader of the Tribe is especially alarmed at the lack of artist control of the business end of rap and the growing exploitation of the genre by whites. At an emotional 1991 New Music Seminar panel discussion in New York City, speaker Q-Tip ventured: "There's [record company people] who live in Connecticut, got a fat house. They probably sit back and listen to Fleetwood Mac and shit. Then they'll sign someone like Vanilla Ice. Why don't they go to Brooklyn or out to Queens and find some kid on the street? He knows what he likes!" Tip went on, admonishing, "We gotta wake up and realize what [record company recruiters are] doing. They're trying to destroy hip-hop the same way they destroyed rock & roll."

On The Low End Theory, Phife significantly emerged from behind Q-Tip's shadow, with vocals a bit quicker and higher-pitched than Tip's, most notably on the cuts "Butter" and "Buggin' Out." Asserted The Source, "Those who questioned Phife's microphone techniques on the first album will swallow those doubts as he practically steals the show on this one. Phife provides a more straight-up b-boy approach to complement Tip's mellow vibes." Source contributor Wilder reflected along the same lines, musing, "Maybe Phife's very noticeably improved lyrical skills ... are what make this album a follow-up that does not disappoint." Also not disappointing was the single "Scenario," an infectious duet with the group Leaders of the New School, the video of which received quite a bit of exposure on MTV. Another video, for the single "Check the Rhime," featured erstwhile Tribe member Jarobi and drew praise from Wilder, who called it "as creative on screen as Quest is on the mixing board, with crazy abstract visual effects done tastefully."

Another distinguishing characteristic of The Low End Theory is the presence of legendary jazz bassist and former Miles Davis Quintet member Ron Carter, who agreed to contribute his skills to the release even though he had never heard of the group before they obtained his home phone number, called him up, and implored him to work with them. Carter agreed to listen to their music, and after doing so, quickly assented to join forces with the Tribe.

The Low End Theory was much lauded by critics; The Source gave it their highest rating, establishing the record as "a hip-hop classic." After the release went gold, Q-Tip and posse performed live on television's Late Night With David Letterman. And in July of 1992, various media reported that Q-Tip would star with dance diva Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice, filmmaker John Singleton's follow-up to his controversial and enormously popular Boyz N the Hood.

A Tribe Called Quest has won accolades for their use of complex musical structures and the fresh collage of sonic information they have produced. They call themselves A Tribe Called Quest because they are committed to braving new paths, guided purely by their passion for music. Of that dedication Phife said in Art Forum, "It's not always raking in money and being on MTV. You go through your share of ups and downs and you've got to really love the music. That's why I always tell kids, if it's in your blood and soul 100 per cent, THEN GO FOR IT." Along with this drive, the Tribe have met with success through their crusade to bring hip-hop back to the gut-thumping, thought-provoking "low end"--far removed from the diluting effects of commercialism and elaborate theatrical antics--while at the same time infusing the genre with the exuberance and sophistication of jazz. In so doing, A Tribe Called Quest has expanded the envelope of rap. Said mixmaster Ali in The Source of the group's evolution, "There's so many sides to us and so many personalities that we could go all kinds of ways and different directions."

The Love Movement was preceded by the fun-spirited "Find a Way"; a song memorable for its swirly otherworldly production and catchy staccato hook. It also received a stylish Paul Hunter-directed music video (the last video the group ever made). Musically, the somewhat somber tone of the previous album was largely absent and replaced by a familiar carefree optimism. Tracks like "Give Me", with Noreaga exemplify the group's approach for much of the album. Driven by a pulsing beat, the opening song "Start It Up" was perhaps even more minimal than anything found on The Low End Theory. Likewise, "Against The World" relies on little more than crisply mixed down drums and a two note bassline. The theme of the album was firmly focused around the topic of love; love for oneself, love for another, love for mankind, love in the face of hate.

Critical reception for The Love Movement was fairly positive, although some factions viewed the album as too subtle to be thoroughly effective. Rolling Stone, for example, remarked that "the mature, accomplished niceness of The Love Movement proves that the Tribe still have the skills – they're just short on thrills." The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, in 1999.

In 2006, the group reunited and performed several sold-out concerts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A Tribe Called Quest was a co-headliner at the 2006 Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, but have not announced any plans to release a new album. The group is also appearing in 2K Sports' Bounce Tour promoting the NBA 2K7 game and a remix of their song, "Lyrics to Go", which is included in the game. According to Phife, ATCQ plans to release an album since they owe Jive Records one more in their six album contract. The date of its release is still unconfirmed, and Phife has urged fans to hold on as the group does not wish to release an LP which might damage their reputation.

The group is the subject of a 2011 documentary entitled Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport.

Albums:
1990: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
1991: The Low End Theory
1993: Midnight Marauders
1996: Beats, Rhymes and Life
1998: The Love Movement

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