It’s been exactly a week since A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg’s passing, and since last Tuesday we have been reflecting on the enormous contributions made by the trailblazing rap group.
ATCQ challenged the boundaries of the hip-hop scene and made musical moves that were unprecedented at the time. The hip-hop pioneers set aside the classic James Brown break beat sample in favor of more interesting jazz samples and even combinations of multiple samples to create something entirely unique. Tribe was also highly intelligent lyrically, providing a breath of conscious rap air at a moment lyrically overwrought with gold chains, booty in da club, and glorification of gang violence. On Mind Power, Phife rapped: “Now, all that glock totin' trash you talk will not prevail. It's stale, you'll either be dead or in jail.” Phife was a real person rapping about real shit. He was unremarkable in appearance, self-deprecatingly making fun of his high-pitched voice and nicknaming himself “The Five Foot Assassin.” A Tribe Called Quest reclaimed hip-hop for the underdogs and alternatives, making music by the people for the people.
Much of hip-hop since has drawn on Tribe’s legacy. Everyone from Andre 3000 and Pharrell Williams to Kanye West and Pusha T has cited the group as an influence. Questlove even named himself as a tribute to ATCQ. Today we can see contemporary artists like J. Cole sample Ronnie Foster’s Mystic Brew on Forbidden Fruit, the same sample Tribe so famously used years ago on Electric Relaxation. We in many ways have the group to thank for the diversity we see within hip-hop today, and this playlist seeks to display just that.
R.I.P. Phife Dawg
Image credit: Rolling Stone
