A stunning homage to A Tribe Called Quest and a musical era that shaped American culture, from critically acclaimed Hanif Abdurraqib.How does one pay homage to A Tribe Called Quest? Hanif Abdurraqib digs into the group’s history and draws from his own experience to reflect on how the band’s distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself.Abdurraqib traces the Tribe’s creative career: from their early days as part of the Afrocentric rap collective known as the Native Tongues, through their first three classic albums, to their eventual breakup and long hiatus. Their work is placed in the context of the broader rap landscape of the 1990s, one upended by sampling laws that forced a reinvention in production methods, the East Coast–West Coast rivalry that threatened to destroy the genre, and some record labels’ shift from focusing on groups to individual MCs.Throughout the narrative Abdurraqib connects both the music and cultural history to their street-level impact and seeks the deeper truths of A Tribe Called Quest; truths that—like the low end, the bass—are not simply heard in the head, but felt in the chest.
About the author
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, writer, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His essays and music criticism have appeared in The New York Times, The FADER, and Pitchfork. He is a columnist at MTV News and author of They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us.
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