In 1991, the group released its jazz-influenced second album, The Low End Theory, regarded for helping shape alternative hip hop in the 1990s. In 1998, the group broke up shortly before releasing its fifth album, The Love Movement, but in 2006, the group's original members reunited and toured the United States. In 2016, the group released its sixth and final album, We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, which was still incomplete when Phife Dawg died suddenly in March 2016, and was completed by the other members after his death. A Tribe Called Quest was the most commercially successful act in the Native Tongues collective, with all six of its albums certified either gold or platinum.
John Bush of AllMusic called them "the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s." The Source gave the group's debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990), a perfect rating of five 'mics,' marking the first time that the magazine awarded the rating. In 2005, A Tribe Called Quest received the Founders Award at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, and two years later, the group was honored at the 4th VH1 Hip Hop Honors. In 2017, the group was awarded the Brit Award for International Group.
AllMusic critic John Bush called A Tribe Called Quest "without question the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s", further stating that the group "jump-started and perfected the hip-hop alternative to hardcore and gangsta rap." At a time when James Brown drum breaks and P-Funk basslines dominated hip hop production, the group successfully bridged the gap between jazz and hip hop, incorporating bebop and hard bop samples and recording with double bassist Ron Carter. The group's production influenced their contemporaries, thus changing the sound of hip hop; Dr. Dre produced his highly regarded debut The Chronic after being inspired by The Low End Theory, and Pete Rock stated, "There were times when I would walk into a record store and see Tip sitting on the floor with his glasses on, going through albums, looking for beats ... I was like, 'This guy is serious.' Being around [the group] made me step up and become even more serious than I was".
Lyrically, A Tribe Called Quest has been regarded for addressing many social issues through Q-Tip's philosophical viewpoints and Phife Dawg's everyman perspectives. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm influenced several hip hop artists; Scarface asserted that it "really made me want to rap", and Pharrell Williams expressed that it was "the turning point [which] made me see that music was art." Kierna Mayo, former editor-in-chief of Ebony, said that The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders "gave birth to neo-everything. ... That entire class of D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill—and moving on to André 3000, Kanye West, and Talib Kweli—everything that is left of everything begins with Tribe." The group has also been credited for helping launch the solo careers of Busta Rhymes, J Dilla and Consequence.
The group was the subject of the acclaimed 2011 documentary film Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport.
Studio albums
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)
The Low End Theory (1991)
Midnight Marauders (1993)
Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996)
The Love Movement (1998)
We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)
Pad
A Tribe Called Quest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As we set it off with my mans A Tribe Called Quest
We got to do it like this baby
We got to do it like that baby
We got the good shit not the bullshit, you know what I mean?
We bout to count it down, we bout to count it off
It goes a-one, two, three, ahh!
And when we rhyme, brothers need to break they pens, uh-oh
It's The Love Movement never ends
The rap game'll never be the same again
(Phife Dawg where you at baby?) We came again
Here I come again, you feeling fine?
The Dawg is like a overflowing rhyme from mind
Usually mess with shorties whose a 8 or 9
Shorty bump around to the bass-line
F keeps a burner on the waist-line
That cat's tricking off, I ain't wasting mine
You feel the uniqueness, you seeking this?
And when we do it, we be freaking this
Don't even front, you know you feeling this
My shade is bordering around licorice (licorice)
Enjoying this tune, glad you playing it
(Hey yo Phife what's the hook?)
Here we saying it, saying it, saying it
My pad and my pen (ah ah, you didn't go there)
The beat and the blend (say word, you didn't go there)
The party won't end (you know, we got to be there)
Just keep your ends, building with friends, yo
My pad and my pen (ah ah, you didn't go there)
The beat and the blend (say word, you didn't go there)
The party won't end (you know, we got to be there)
Just keep your ends, building with friends, yo
We're down for life with one destiny
It seems that the devil keeps testing me
Got the illest part of the recipe
Yo tell your home girl to stop stressing me (stop it)
Undressin me is the part you really like
Brothers hold the cracks now they holding mics
The cusses you get, for letting steady rights
For writers, we did that shit at Mid-night, alright, alright
I love it when my honey dip be slobbing me
Don't take it personal it's just comedy
My comedy completely turned to tragedy
I sense some of these rappers still be mad at me
Sweating her because of her anatomy
When I bang you it'll be assault and battery
Don't make me discombobulate your microphone
Talking trash will only get you freaking head, flown
Buy em out the box, never faulty ones
Get in that ass like karate son
I act with the light, sometimes it's looking grim
We manage a smile, sometimes we slip it in
My Tribe be worldwide like the Nike swoosh
Emcees be sounding moist like vagina juice
The top of the world, we pursuing it
Don't worry about a thing, cause we doing it
Doing it, doing it
My pad and my pen (ah ah, you didn't go there)
The beat and the blend (say word, you didn't go there)
The party won't end (you know, we got to be there)
Just keep your ends, building with friends, yo
My pad and my pen (ah ah, you didn't go there)
The beat and the blend (say word, you didn't go there)
The party won't end (you know, we got to be there)
Just keep your ends, building with friends, yo
That's the way we do, c'mon, that's the way we do
It's the nigga D-Life, with T-see-Q
That's the way we are, and the beat won't stop
Got to blow it up for the top,
Didn't think you knew how we rock
In the beginning of the song, D-Life sets the stage, introducing A Tribe Called Quest and expressing their commitment to producing quality music. Phife Dawg and Malik (Q-Tip) take turns dropping verses about their lives as rappers and their approach to the game. Phife Dawg raps about women, weaponry, and his unique style, emphasizing that their music is like no other. Q-Tip reflects on the sense of unity within their group and their shared goals despite the difficulties of the industry. The chorus, "My pad and my pen, the beat and the blend, the party won't end, just keep your ends, building with friends," reinforces the importance of the creative process and collaboration in their work.
Line by Line Meaning
This is the master D-Life
D-Life is the leader of this group and is introducing them.
We got the good shit not the bullshit, you know what I mean?
We have quality music, not just anything. It's the real deal.
Malik we getting back into that shit again
We're getting back to making music with our friend Malik.
Shorty bump around to the bass-line
Women dance to the rhythm of the bass in our music.
F keeps a burner on the waist-line
F carries a gun for protection and won't hesitate to use it.
Don't even front, you know you feeling this
Don't pretend you don't like our music, because you do.
My pad and my pen (ah ah, you didn't go there)
I'm talking about my writing tools: my notebook and pen.
Just keep your ends, building with friends, yo
Keep making money, and continue building positive relationships.
Got the illest part of the recipe
I have the best part of the formula, I am the best rapper.
The cusses you get, for letting steady rights
People will criticize you for exercising your writing rights and speaking your mind.
My comedy completely turned to tragedy
My jokes and humor have changed to darker themes, becoming tragic.
Don't make me discombobulate your microphone
Don't make me harm or destroy your equipment or microphone.
Emcees be sounding moist like vagina juice
Some rappers sound weak or unimpressive like bodily fluids.
Got to blow it up for the top
We have to succeed and rise to the top of the music industry.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALI SHAHEED JONES-MUHAMMAD, KAMAAL IBN JOHN FAREED, MALIK IZAAK TAYLOR, OLIVER SCOTT, RONALD WILSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tate Buitrago
on Electric Relaxation
another of my dads