How A Tribe Called Quest Built a Movement That Still Moves Us
A Tribe Called Quest will go down in history as one of history’s most beloved Hip Hop groups. They’re inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a consistent reference for “conscious” Hip Hop artists, Neo Soul artists, as well as other artists across the board, and each of their members’ names are legendary to some extent. But you can’t really understand Tribe’s story and their significance without referencing the “tribe” that they come from.
Tribe’s story starts in two places: Queens, New York, on Linden Boulevard, and at Murray Bergtraum High School for Business Careers in New York, NY. In Queens is where MC/producer Q-Tip grew up with one of his best friends from school, Phife, who was best friends with the fourth original Tribe member, Jarobi. They grew up with an interest in Hip Hop and rapping and would task each other to write rhymes with the full confidence that they could do what was being done by neighbors of theirs who had made it in Hip Hop, like LL Cool J and Run DMC. Also interesting was the lineage of Tribe’s neighbors — funk jazz pioneers and luminaries like Marcus Miller, Tom Browne, Bernard Wright, and Don Blackman — who were pioneering a sort of jazz fusion which was in alignment with the ’70s funk that was popular during Tribe’s youth. The “Queens Cats,” as they were called, became a consistent reference point for the Native Tongues and the whole hip-hop producer landscape, which were interested in the genres of jazz and funk to sample from.
Q-Tip went to school in Manhattan at Murray Bergtraum with an interest in computer science. There he met Ali Shaheed Muhammad, a classmate from Brooklyn who was into DJing and was hoping to be as skilled and popular as the outdoor mobile DJs from his neighborhood of Bed-Stuy, like pioneers DJ Lance and Grandmaster Flowers. It just so happened that they were also in school with other aspiring Hip Hop artists who, unbeknownst to them, were on their way due to family connections, like the Jungle Brothers and future X-Clan MC Brother J. One of the brothers, named Mike G, who lived in another part of Queens known as LeFrak, was the nephew of Zulu Nation DJ and radio personality Red Alert, who was known throughout the city and abroad due to his DJ mixes and his involvement in Zulu Nation groups like The Jazzy 5 and Afrika Bambaataa.
Community Roots and Cultural Alchemy
When the Jungle Brothers got an opportunity to make a record, Ali and Q-Tip were surprised and eager to follow suit with the sole desire of getting on the radio and being heard. A good friend of mine who went to Bergtraum with Tribe and Jungle Brothers said he remembers being at the prom, hearing two of the Jungle Brothers’ hits being played at the reception and how surreal it was. Q-Tip was on two songs on the Jungle Brothers’ first album: one was called “Black is Black,” and the other was called “The Promo.” “Black is Black” had Q-Tip introduce himself on JB’s Baby Bam’s advice as “A Tribe Called Quest,” rather than their original name “Quest.” The reference to a “Tribe” was a way to communicate their pride in their African roots as well as to represent affiliate creative members who they might want to bring up themselves, much like the Jungle Brothers did for them.
And here is where I want to focus on one of the more important aspects of the roots of Tribe: they were founded in community/Tribe/Nation that extended from a family that, the more you go back, you’re able to see the extended roots of the culture that they come from and are clearly proud of. Any listener could tell by the lyrics in their music, as well as the samples they chose, from groups like Mandrill, Gil Scott-Heron, Gary Bartz, and The Last Poets — and themes like “Black is Black” and “Straight Out The Jungle” — which some people took issue with because it appeared to promote a damaging stereotype that Africa was a dark continent with jungles, monkeys, etc. But Jungle Brothers and Tribe were intentional about taking the stereotypes projected upon African descendants in the Black community and repurposing them as tongue-in-cheek musical comedy, as well as weaponizing them against their oppressive detractors who had an interest in the Black community fearing and loathing their roots.
This is one example of the Cultural Alchemy created by A Tribe Called Quest and the other members of their tribe, like the Jungle Brothers and X-Clan, who drove “pink caddies” and would eat cornbread and soul food in their videos. This sort of repurposing — taking what we are given and using it for what we want — is relative to Rammellzee’s “Armored Letters” and Grace Jones and her Island Life one-woman show, where she would come out on stage wearing a gorilla suit and bongo drum, only to remove it demonstratively from her head to show her natural, beautiful face and focused, austere expression, letting anyone watching know she could not be tricked into hiding who she naturally is.
The Rise of the Native Tongues
One of the next affiliate Native Tongue “Tribe” members was the Hip Hop group from Long Island named De La Soul. De La was a group assisted by DJ Prince Paul, a young DJ from their Long Island neighborhood of Amityville who was associated with Stetsasonic, a Hip Hop group from Brooklyn, and who had so many diverse and creative ideas that he wanted to pour into a group closer to his age. That group he discovered in De La, and their complex and witty lyricism went perfectly with the creative stitching of diverse samples as a perfect combination.
When De La heard the Jungle Brothers and their protégé Tribe, and when Tribe and Jungle Brothers heard De La, it was the proverbial love at first sight. And even more auspicious was that all of their records were starting to get played on Red Alert’s Kiss 98.7 FM radio show. Tribe, Jungle Brothers, and De La Soul got to perform a collaborative record called “Buddy” on De La’s “Three Feet High and Rising” album. Most people agree that, just like the Jungle Brothers’ album, De La’s album was a classic, filled with current important themes, colorful creativity, and witty lyricism that would make them global phenomenons with a “day-glow” image that also aligned with the dance music explosion taking place in Europe, specifically the UK’s “Summer of Love” in 1988. Jungle Brothers also splashed into the dance music world with their house music anthem “Girl I’ll House You,” which, though not as important as Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body” for the identification and recognition of house music, I believe it’s a close second.
Bonita Applebum and the Breakthrough
Tribe followed with their first album “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.” It had a similar feel to the Jungle Brothers’ first album and had production contributions by Baby Bam of the JB’s and DJ Towa Tei of Dee-Lite. Being that Tribe’s album came out at the same time as the monumental second Jungle Brothers album “Done By The Forces Of Nature,” it was somewhat overshadowed, as was their style of dress, which became too closely associated with the Jungle Brothers and outshined by the day-glow phenomenon caused by De La Soul. I remember myself thinking, “Tribe is great, but they can’t mess with the JB’s!”
But there was one song on “People’s Instinctive…” that stood out to listeners, including myself. 1990’s summer was hot and buzzing with great music and culture amongst the high school and college demographic. The Native Tongues were the word on the street and the clubs were bridging Hip Hop and dance music culture, which had not been done for quite some time in the scene. The first song on side two of Tribe’s debut was a song called “Bonita Applebum,” whose Roy Ayers (RAMP) melodious and moody sample, along with a lyrical love letter of sorts by Q-Tip to his object of affection, related to listeners of both genders: men crushing on their female peers and women loving the praise of being identified as attractive in their natural state of curvaceousness.
I remember playing this on my stereo as I would shower and ready myself for dates with one of my high school crushes — whose name I won’t say because I’m sure she’ll read this. 😁 She knows who she is. It is what made me and others give Tribe a second look and revisit the classics on the album that we might have overlooked.
The Low End Theory and a New Era
When their second album came about, I was already in college and considered myself a fan of the group. What I noticed was their first press interviews had Tribe in a much more subdued and relatable image — champion sweatshirts and Starter hats — that betrayed their eclectic, bohemian image. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work until I heard “Check The Rhyme,” and my good friend Chris Burns from college brought the Tribe album home for us to listen to.
We went up to my roommate Scott’s room, turned out all the lights, and listened to The Low End Theory, a classic collection of tracks clearly helmed by the group, specifically Q-Tip, who was getting more into his production technique referencing jazz and restructuring it to take drums and sonic elements and repurpose them into “funk.” It was being done much like the Bomb Squad was doing for Public Enemy and Ice Cube, who was going solo from NWA, but with a much more jazzy aesthetic.
Here came the changing of the guard for the Native Tongues. Other members like De La and Jungle Brothers were still upheld as leading the bohemian Hip Hop movement, along with Latifah, Monie Love, and new groups like Black Sheep and Leaders Of The New School, who appeared on The Low End Theory. But now Tribe was clearly in the lead.
That Tribe theme was significant because, in those early ’90s, we all felt like a tribe of sorts — going against the grain in image, thought process, and creative ideas. I can’t think of a better time for us as young people. The Native Tongues were approaching their creativity almost effortlessly, as if they were wise beyond their years. Sure, we heard murmurs of internal misunderstandings within the Native Tongues collective, but it had no reflection in the music, which was confident and progressive. Tribe seemed to know exactly what they needed from the ancestors and our elder siblings through their music to repurpose their message to the world — which, as much as things do change, we realize through reflection that they were staying the same.
Midnight Marauders and Musical Alchemy
The group in the Hip Hop scene with whom Tribe had a complex relationship was Teddy Riley’s posse. Interestingly enough, when I listened to Teddy’s Red Bull Music Academy interview, he described a production process that resembled Q-Tip’s.
Once Teddy had worked out the bass and drum sounds and synth chords, he would add sporadic “ear cookies” in an upper register to keep dancers dancing. Q-Tip did the same thing, and it would achieve the same result — the low-end mood with the high-end triggered activity. It created, in Q-Tip’s production, a sublimated result of jazz elements into funky music. Alchemy in motion. This could be heard even more so in Tribe’s third effort, Midnight Marauders.
Q-Tip’s collaborative engagements with emerging producers like Pete Rock and Large Professor exposed him to techniques of how to stretch samples in order to affect listeners. The lyricism from the group was growing as well, and it caused Tribe to be at the forefront of the Hip Hop scene. Though they weren’t making the same sorts of record sales as some of the West Coast rap stars, it didn’t change the fact that they were one of the most respected groups in Hip Hop, with the skills, style, and integrity that were undeniable by any listener.
They ended up influencing the next wave of artists who were coming from the East Coast — like Black Moon, Mobb Deep, Black Star, and The Roots — who kept a more cultural approach with more integrity, like Tribe. Nas, who led the charge in East Coast rap in the early to mid-90s, was clearly influenced by his Queens neighbor Q-Tip and Tribe. But his championing of the street life opened up a proverbial Pandora’s box of antisocial behavior, criminality, and misogyny that was unable to be closed again — and unfortunately marginalized Tribe and their sound.
At the same time, Rawkus Records was emerging with the same spirit that Tribe had a lot to do with promoting and growing in the culture and industry. But just like violent movies and TV, the gangster image took off in the Hip Hop scene on the East Coast — the last stronghold of Hip Hop promoting cultural integrity.
“Pandora’s Box” being open would forever affect the youthful listeners to Hip Hop, who felt like keeping it real meant keeping it gangster. We still struggle with this perception as it affects our own youth, who think rap music — in order to be official — needs to be antisocial, misogynistic, and violent.
A Legacy That Transcends Time
But as I said, Q-Tip and Tribe were able to continue influencing younger artists because what they had created so deeply resonated with listeners and the audience that their legacy transcended our troubled cultural times.
That is a clear example of the importance and reality of Cultural Alchemy — which comes to fruition when we utilize our culture, community, and our experiences to create.
We end up with a solid foundation to build and elevate with —a foundation that transcends time and minds.