You could hear the divisions in the rap world through every
\nwindshield-throbbing stereo system in the early ’90s. Before the
\nwar between the coasts engulfed the rap world, there was the battle
\nbetween the cerebral and the streets.<\/p>\n
The anger, anguish and violence of the streets dominated the
\nsounds of N.W.A. and the artists who split from the group. Ice
\nCube, Dr. Dre and Ice-T were releasing pulverizing accounts of
\nstreet life with lyrics filled with slams against “bitches” and
\n“hoes.” The music gave voice to many who did not have a voice
\nbefore. However, the music actually sold more copies in the
\nsuburbs, where kids retreated to the sounds of “F*** The Police” as
\na means of escapism.<\/p>\n
On the other side, there was the more intellectual movement.
\nJust as Public Enemy was releasing their last great album,
\nApocalypse ’91: The Enemy Strikes Black<\/i>, bands like De La
\nSoul and KRS-One were putting out socially conscious music that
\nactually moved records at the stores. Mixing the underground beat
\nculture and elements of jazz, both De La Soul and KRS-One were on
\nto something big.<\/p>\n
Then a Tribe Called Quest came along. Their first major album,
\nPeople’s Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm<\/i> may have
\nbeen as confusing to figure out musically as the title, but the
\nband already laid out a solid foundation. With their next album,
\nThe Low End Theory<\/i>, they strengthened their sound by making
\nit leaner and as a result, made one of the benchmark rap albums of
\nthe ’90s.<\/p>\n
For sheer flow,
\nThe Low End Theory<\/i> is like water without any ripples. The
\nupright bass of “Buggin’ Out” and the intro track, “Excursions”
\nannounce to the listener that this is no ordinary rap album. It’s
\nalmost like you can smell the stale cigarette smoke as you’re
\nsitting in a dark club with a white spotlight on the band.<\/p>\n
The only pitfall for an album this smooth is that, at first
\nlisten, the songs flow into one another so effortlessly that you
\ncan’t tell when one song ends and another begins. But give it
\nanother couple listens (don’t worry, it’s not that difficult to
\nlisten to this album over and over) and each song takes on its own
\npersonality.<\/p>\n
Take the song, “Butter.” Midway through the album, Pfife Dawg
\nspeals the names of all the girls he has loved before. Right at the
\ntime when misogyny dominated most every rap album out there, A
\nTribe Called Quest took a bold pro-woman stand on most of the
\nsongs. Not to say that they put women on a pedestal. Some of the
\nsongs off
\nThe Low End Theory<\/i> deal with guys who have been dicked over
\nby the wrong girl. But rather, A Tribe Called Quest took time to
\nlook at both sexes and what motivates them to do the things they
\ndo.<\/p>\n
In
\nThe Low End Theory<\/i>, rapper Q-Tip quickly established himself
\nas one of the most capable MCs out there. His detatched, laid back
\ndelivery resounded on songs like “Show Business” and the lyrical
\nmack-truck slam of “The Infamous Date Rape.”<\/p>\n
The album closes with “Scenario.” That song may be the most
\npopular song the Tribe has released. It was featured as a live
\ntrack on their last album, “The Love Movement.” Non-Tribe initiates
\nmay be a bit surprised to hear Busta Rhymes drop his manic style on
\nthis track.<\/p>\n
In their next album, the band came out swinging a little harder.
\nThat may have been a response from some of their musical peers that
\nthe band lacked street crediability. But, in all of their albums, A
\nTribe Called Quest were able to mesh the harsh realities of urban
\nlife with the sophistication of the beat culture. Any album by the
\nTribe is a safer investment than most any Master P
\ncross-promotional product, but for beginners,
\nThe Low End Theory<\/i> couldn’t be a better investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7394],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38965","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-a-tribe-called-quest","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38965"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}