Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
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)
A Tribe Called Quest were among the most universally beloved hip-hop groups ever. They released artistically and commercially successful albums that resonate as powerfully as ever decades later. Whenever they chose to tour, they packed venues worldwide. They were the subject of a 2011 documentary that tracked the group’s history and growth. Kamaal “Q-Tip” Fareed, Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor, Jarobi White, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad helped influence a generation of rappers, groups, and producers. What makes their reach more extraordinary is that the Queens, NY bred crew did the vast majority of their recording during an eight-year period from 1990 to 1998, releasing five of their six studio albums together during this time.
Part of Tribe‘s legend has endured despite that relatively brief initial recording window because there are plenty of fans out there who can relate to being different. Also, there is something universally appealing about jazzy music you can chill out to. Q-Tip was a master creator, unearthing dusty jazz and soul grooves and repurposing them into expertly crafted tracks. But the group was a complete package, with Q-Tip and Phife’s contrasting rhyme styles and demeanors perfectly complementing each other.
Things started to go sour for Tribe after the release of Midnight Marauders. They released Beats, Rhymes, and Life and The Love Movement, which both received mixed reviews at the time, and some of the members don’t seem that fond of these projects. However, I believe they’re both underappreciated entries in their discography, often as soulful and heartfelt as anything they’d released previously. After a somewhat acrimonious breakup, Q-Tip, Phife and Ali Shaheed Muhammad pursued their own musical careers, only occasionally reuniting for lucrative tour offers.
When Phife tragically succumbed to complications from diabetes in March 2016, a disease that he had battled for most of his life, it appeared Tribe had finally come to an end. But, then in an unexpected “twist,” the group released We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service soon after the 2016 presidential election. The unexpected catalyst came in late 2015, after the group came together to perform “Can I Kick It?” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Inspired by the chemistry they rediscovered on stage, the foursome headed back to the studio to record, in secret, what they all agreed would be their final album as a group.
The quality of We Got It from Here… is a testament to the group’s legacy, as it sounds like a logical continuation of the great music that they’d recorded together during the ’90s. It was a bittersweet reminder of what made the group’s initial dissolution such a disappointment in the first place. While it sucks that there was a two-decade gap in Tribe’s storied recording career, they certainly made a huge impact through their limited output.
Jesse’s 3 Favorite A Tribe Called Quest Albums of All Time:
1. The Low End Theory (1991)
2. Midnight Marauders (1993)
3. People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)
LISTEN & WATCH: