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)
Push It Along
A Tribe Called Quest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For me to be your idol, but dig this recital
If you can't envision a brother who ain't dissing
Slinging this and that, cause this and that was missing
Instead, it's been injected, the Tribe has been perfected
Oh yes, it's been selected, the art makes it protected
Afrocentric living, Africans be givin'
A lot to the cause cause the cause has been risen
Coming off like the days where we used to wear the tans and
A blue-collar talker, a hemisphere stalker
A glass of OJ and a ten mile walk-a
If you're in a Jeep and you dig what you're hearing
Can I get a beep and a side order of cheering?
I am what I am, that's a tribal man
We all know the colors, we all must stand
As we start our travels, things they will unravel
"Que sera sera", for this unit is like gravel
Won't be gone for long, listen to the song
If you can't pull it, all ya gotta do is
Push it along, push it along, yeah
Put one up for the Phifer, it's time to decipher
The ills of the world make the situation lighter
The clock is always ticking, the systems should be kickin'
Like Tip said in "Ham and Eggs", I eat chicken, chicken, chicken
Should I release the lever, the lever of the clever
Embellish on the funk as we start to endeavor?
The roots of the rap filling up the gap
With the smash of a hand and a little toe tap
The boom, the bip, the boom bip
Indicates to the brothers that we be on the flip tip
Phonies start to crumble, funky rhythm rumbles
Through the dance-hall, but my anthem is humble
It's the nitty-gritty, my time is itty-bitty
So I kick the slash for the gipper and the witty
This ain't trial and error, more like tribin' era
Constantly rude as some sort of tribal terror
The street can't depart from the bloody heart
Repair the wear and tear, don't stop 'fore it starts
Won't be gone for long, listen to the song
If you can't pull it, all ya gotta do is
Push it along, push it along, yeah
Marching off the project, we hope that you will subject
It's good to be an object and never, ever reject
The tribe who meanders with drunken propaganda
Keep it in boom and never will we slander
Redeems should be handed, don't let me demand it
Money gives a nudge to the poet star bandit
Control it, then recluse it, follow, you won't lose it
Mysterious is the tribe for we choose it
Although she's flipping crazy, give my love to Gracy
God, could you help cause this Quest is crazy spacey?
The pigs are wearing blue, and in a year or two
We'll be going up the creek in a great big canoe
What we gonna do, save me and my brothers?
Hop inside the bed and pull over the covers
Never will we do that and we ain't trying to rule that
We just want a slab of the ham, don't you know, black?
This society of fake reality
Are nothing but a peg of informality
While I sing my song, sing it all day long
If you can't pull it, all ya gotta do is
Push it along, push it along, yeah
The lyrics of "Push It Along" by A Tribe Called Quest speaks to the power of unity and push towards a better future. Q-Tip starts by saying that he doesn't consider himself an idol, but his rhymes and art can enlighten and lead others to a better future. The song goes on to describe the unified progress of the African community, with its past of slavery and oppression, and its ongoing contributions to the culture. The brothers who flamming aren't ideologically aligned with their cause, and they're looking towards a superficial idea of success, like the days of dressing up in tans. Q-Tip, on the other hand, is a blue-collar talker and a hemisphere stalker, enjoying a glass of orange juice while walking miles. The listener is urged to beep and cheer if they are enjoying the music in their jeep. Ultimately, the song makes the case that the tribe is like gravel, Que sera sera, it won't be gone for long, and all they have to do to reach their goals is to push it along.
Line by Line Meaning
Q-Tip is my title, I don't think that it's vital
My name is Q-Tip, but I don't think you need to idolize me
For me to be your idol, but dig this recital
I have something to say and I don't need to be your idol for you to hear it
If you can't envision a brother who ain't dissing
If you can't imagine someone who isn't spreading negativity
Slinging this and that, cause this and that was missing
Talking about meaningless things because there was nothing important to discuss
Instead, it's been injected, the Tribe has been perfected
We've injected meaningful content into our music and perfected our craft as The Tribe
Oh yes, it's been selected, the art makes it protected
Our art has been selected by the people and it's protected by its unique value
Afrocentric living, Africans be givin'
We embrace Afrocentric living and African people contribute to our approach
A lot to the cause cause the cause has been risen
African people have contributed a lot to our cause which has seen a revival
Some brothers, they be flamming, thinking we ain't slammin'
Some people criticize us thinking we're not delivering good music
Coming off like the days where we used to wear the tans and
They're criticizing us like they used to criticize us in the old days for being different
A blue-collar talker, a hemisphere stalker
I'm a regular guy, walking around the world in search of inspiration
A glass of OJ and a ten mile walk-a
I enjoy something as simple as orange juice and taking a long walk
If you're in a Jeep and you dig what you're hearing
If you're driving around and you like our music
Can I get a beep and a side order of cheering?
Can you give us some recognition and show us some love?
I am what I am, that's a tribal man
I am who I am, a man belonging to The Tribe
We all know the colors, we all must stand
We all know our differences but we must stand united
As we start our travels, things they will unravel
As we move on, things will start to show themselves
"Que sera sera", for this unit is like gravel
"Whatever will be, will be," and our group is like gravel - strong and unbreakable
Won't be gone for long, listen to the song
We're not leaving anytime soon, keep listening to our music
If you can't pull it, all ya gotta do is
If you can't understand it, just keep pushing forward
Put one up for the Phifer, it's time to decipher
Let's pay tribute to Phife Dawg and start digging deeper into our message
The ills of the world make the situation lighter
Talking about the world's problems can make things seem less heavy
The clock is always ticking, the systems should be kickin'
The clock doesn't stop and systems should always be improving
Like Tip said in "Ham and Eggs", I eat chicken, chicken, chicken
I like to eat chicken just like Q-Tip mentioned in his song "Ham and Eggs"
Should I release the lever, the lever of the clever
If I let out my creativity, I can do something intelligent and meaningful
Embellish on the funk as we start to endeavor?
Should we add to the funky music as we move forward?
The roots of the rap filling up the gap
Rap music is filling a void in society's music industry
With the smash of a hand and a little toe tap
With a simple beat and a little foot tapping
The boom, the bip, the boom bip
The beat of our music
Indicates to the brothers that we be on the flip tip
Our beat tells people that we're on a new level
Phonies start to crumble, funky rhythm rumbles
Fake people fall apart and our funky rhythm takes over
Through the dance-hall, but my anthem is humble
Our music might be played in a dance hall but our message is still humble
It's the nitty-gritty, my time is itty-bitty
We're getting down to the details, and time is limited
So I kick the slash for the gipper and the witty
I put my creativity towards impressing the audience and making them laugh
This ain't trial and error, more like tribin' era
We're not just experimenting, we have a consistent approach
Constantly rude as some sort of tribal terror
We might come off as rude or intimidating, but that's our style
The street can't depart from the bloody heart
We can't forget where we came from and the struggles we had to overcome
Repair the wear and tear, don't stop 'fore it starts
Fix any damage or issues and don't let them turn into bigger problems
Marching off the project, we hope that you will subject
We're leaving our project and we hope you can relate to it
It's good to be an object and never, ever reject
It's good to be a part of something bigger and not reject new ideas
The tribe who meanders with drunken propaganda
Our group has a freeform approach and sometimes people view it as incoherent
Keep it in boom and never will we slander
Our music is always on point and we'll never badmouth anyone
Redeems should be handed, don't let me demand it
We shouldn't have to ask for recognition, it should be given willingly
Money gives a nudge to the poet star bandit
Financial success encourages musicians to keep creating and performing
Control it, then recluse it, follow, you won't lose it
Take control, then back off a bit, and you'll never lose your touch
Mysterious is the tribe for we choose it
We might seem mysterious, but we choose to be that way
Although she's flipping crazy, give my love to Gracy
Even though things might be crazy, send love to the people you care about
God, could you help cause this Quest is crazy spacey?
God, can you help us because our music is out of this world?
The pigs are wearing blue, and in a year or two
The cops are getting more aggressive and in the coming years
We'll be going up the creek in a great big canoe
We'll be in trouble if things keep going the way they are
What we gonna do, save me and my brothers?
What can we do to protect ourselves and our community?
Hop inside the bed and pull over the covers
Hide and protect ourselves from the dangers we face
Never will we do that and we ain't trying to rule that
We won't run away and we don't want to rule over anyone
We just want a slab of the ham, don't you know, black?
We just want to live comfortably, you know, brother?
This society of fake reality
This society is full of fake and superficial elements
Are nothing but a peg of informality
It's not a serious society, it's just casual and loose
While I sing my song, sing it all day long
While I keep making music and delivering my message
If you can't pull it, all ya gotta do is
If you can't understand it, just keep pushing forward
Push it along, push it along, yeah
Keep pushing forward and don't give up
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ali Jones-Muhammad, Grover Washington, Kamaal Fareed
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tate Buitrago
on Electric Relaxation
another of my dads