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"We hope you will find our presentation
precise, bass-heavy and just right"
...Introducing 1) the all-new Predictions rating wherein I state the incredibly obvious while trying to make it seem as if I have some deep insight or something and 2) the all-new Rotation Weight meter wherein I guess at how long the album will stay in your heavy-rotation stack.
Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest |
| Distinctiveness: | Sure. It's very ATCQ. And it's even distinctive for ATCQ. |
| Dopeness Rating: | ATCQPhat+. I don't know what the naysayers are talking about. This is all that. |
| Rap Part: | Phat+. They are the former and current Lyrical Steak. Q-Tip has managed to get even funkier since LET; I thought that was pretty much impossible. And Phife? Even better than before. I always did like him. Nice flow. |
| Sounds: | JazzyBopBopBamBapBopPhat+. |
| Predictions: | This'll blow up just as much as Low End. They won't lose many of the fans of either of their first two albums as this kind of an average. Plus, it really is slammin' stuff. |
| Rotation Weight: | Heavy. It might even last you the 80 years it'll be until their next album. |
| Message: | Not really. And who cares?
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| Tracks: | 14 tracks averaging 3 minutes & 40 seconds apiece (you figure it out--no calculators). |
| Label: | Jive. |
| Producers: | A Tribe Called Quest |
| Profanity: | Very little. Some use of the n-word. |
So here's how it works.
Back in the day, I was never really able to get into A Tribe Called Quest. In fact, I couldn't much deal with the Native Tongue family at all. Jungle Brothers? They were okay, but I wasn't going to lay out the duckets for 'em. Tribe? Okay "Bonita Applebum" and "Can I Kick It?" were dope, but I didn't want a whole album like that. De La Soul? Okay, I'll make an exception for 3 Feet High and Rising. That was mad silly phat.
Even with all the net.hype over Low End Theory, I resisted. I gave it a listen at gunpoint and thought, "Yeah, so?" It wasn't worth $11.99. But then I kept hearing it and at some point, I found my head boppin'. And it was very Jazzy. I liked Jazz, right? I gave it a chance.
Three listens later, I realized that it was one of the best things I'd ever heard.
Quest is like that. They make classic albums that just keep tapping you on the shoulder until you turn around.
Then they smack you upside the head.
That brings us to our lesson for today: Midnight Marauders. I promised to listen to it four times before I passed judgement. I'm glad I waited.
A Tribe Called Quest is made up of Q-Tip the Abstract, Phife-Dawg, Ali Shaeed and Jarobi. I'm still not too sure what Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi do exactly besides some of the writing (or maybe that's just the music?). Whatever it is, The Abstract and Dawg give Ali many more props and mention this time than last time. Whatever. Q-Tip and Phife continue to lay down long lyrical pipe over some bassful jazz, so I'm happy. Whatever Ali and Jarobi do they can keep on doing.
Anyway, we open with "Midnight Marauders Tour Guide" which features the voice of one Laurel Dann. She reappears throughout the album presenting useful tidbits and providing a bridge between tracks.
"The average bounce meter for your
Midnight Marauder program will be
In the area of 95 b.p.m."
Phife opens up very, very nicely on "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)," setting
the stage for Q-Tip to come in with some more smoov stuff.
"Uh-huh here we go
You know that I'm the rebel
Throwin' out the wicked like God did the devil
Funky like your grandpa's drawers
Don't test me
We in like that
You dead like Presley"
There are some dope beats here. Nice opening jam.
"Percussion is a ness
D's wear the vest
While they're dodging bullets
You should be dodging Quest
Don't get me wrong
Violence is not our forte
I just like to rhyme
Kick the lyric skills like Pele"
"Award Tour" follows up, trying it's best to make you think it's
called "A World Tour" instead. Nice sounds. Long-piped lyrics.
"I have a quest to have a mic in my hand
Without that it's like kryptonite and Superman
So Shaheed come in with the sugar cuts
Phife Dawg's my name but on stage call me Dynomutt
When was the last time you heard the Phifer sloppy?
Lyrics anonymous, you never hear me copy
Top-notch baby, never comin' less
Sky's the limit, ya gots to believe up in Quest"
De La cousin Trugoy the Dove provides his voice for the chorus.
"Lyrically I'm Mario Andretti on the normal
Ludicrously speedy or infectious with the slow-mo"
Anyway, it was a good choice for a release. Insert dap here.
"8 Million Stories" starts up with a more familar-sounding musical beat. One can't help but bob. And Phife lays down some nice ones. This is slammin' stuff y'all....
"Steady smilin' like a mother
Yo I'm ret'ta bone
Went down on hon
She's in the red zone
Stressed out more than anyone can ever be
Forever tryin' to clear the samples for my new LP
Everybody knows I go to Georgia often
Got on the flight and I ended up in Boston
With all these trials and tribulations
Yo, I've been affected
And to top it off, Starks got ejected."
Next up is "Sucka Nigga" with another Hubbard sample.
"Musically we are the herb
So sit back and light me
Inhale...."
Hmmmm, I thought The Coup had the last word on this.... Actually it
occurs to me that I'm not quite sure what Q-Tip is trying to get
across. He sounds confused somehow. Whatever. It still sounds
good.
"You're not any less of a man if you don't pull the trigger
You're not necessarily a man if you do"
Anyway, "Midnight" follows. Bass. Thump. Bob.
"Comin' down the block, man, loud as
You would swear Redman was inside the truck
As the night scence darker
Cops is on the hunt
They interrupt your cypher
And crush your blunt
See you left your work at home
So they pat you down for nothin'
Why in the hell does 10-4 keep frontin'?"
Phat. Hmmmmm. I see a pattern forming here. Phat tracks followed by
phat tracks followed by phat tracks....
Is that the Bad Foot Brown & The Budions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band sampled on "We Can Get Down"?
"I'm not your average MC with the Joe Schmoe flow
If you don't know me by now you'll never know
Steppin' on my critics beatin' on my foes
The plan is to stay focused only then I can go
Straight from the heart I represent hip-hop
I be three albums deep but I don't wanna go pop
Too many candy rappers seem to be at the top
Too much candy is no good so now I'm closin' up shop"
Phife comes with the much correctitude.
"My man where ya goin'
You can't escape"
Of course, Q-Tip is no slouch either.
"This is 93 and the sh*t is real
Black people unite and put down your steel"
Pretty nice.
The music on "Electric Relaxation" is especially good. Smooth like ice cream and twice as good for you.
"I like 'em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian
Name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu Nation"
"You can be my momma and I'll be your boy..."
"Not to come across as a thug or a hood
But hon you got the goods like Madeline Wood
By the way my name's Malik, the five-foot freak
Let's say we get together by the end of the week
She simply said, 'No,' labelled me a ho
I said 'how ya figure?'
'My friends tell me so'"
That was nice. I'll have to listen to that one again.....
I'm back. Nice muzak.
Anyway, "Clap Your Hands" comes next. It uses just a bit of the
chorus sample that Das EFX used in their similarly-titled track. But
other than a similar break, they're nothing alike.
The funkiness comes hard on "Oh My God." Nice jam this one.
We relax again with "Keep It Rollin'." Large Professor makes a
guest appearance as producer.
Bottom line? Buy the damn thing. Don't worry if you feel unsure the
first time through. It's like sex. It gets better with practice.
Some stretching exercises might help, too. Listen to it five times.
Trip out when you realize the phatness. Then go back and buy Low End
Theory if you've been that kinda weak punk. Repeat the above
exercise.
When you've caught up, feel free to bop your head in public.
But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?
(c) Copyright 1993, Charles L Isbell, Jr.
All my Hip Hop reviews are available on the World Wide Web. Use the
URL: http://www.seditionists.org/HFh
and follow the pointers....
"My sh*t is rock solid but it flows like fluid
Chemists get confused of my ill composition
This is the third of the new Tribe edition
MCs be swingin' but a lot of them be missin'
So shut your blood clot and listen
'Cause I'm bringin' you the ill rendition"
Absolutely nothing alike. For one thing, they make sense....
"One for the treble, two for the bass
You know the style Tip, it's time to flip this
I like my beats hard like two-day old sh*t
Steady eatin' booty MCs like cheese grits"
At this point, I've hope you've decided to buy this. What else do
you want from me? Geez.
"Hey, yo, swing swing swing
Ta chop chop chop
Yo that's the sound when MCs get mopped
Don't come around town
Without the hip in your hop
'Cause when the sh*t hits the fan
That ass'll get dropped
MCs wanna attack me
But them punks can't cope
I'll have ya left without a job
Like Issac from the Love Boat"
Oh, he makes a guest rap appearance as well. Not a bad one either.
"Styles be phat like Jackie Gleason
The rest be Art Carney
People love the Dawg
Like the kids love Barney"
With no warning, the intro lick "The Chase Part II" intrudes on our
meditations. Well, it's just more phatness.
"(Damn Phife ya got fat)
Yeah I know it looks pathetic
Ali Shaheed Muhammad got me doin' calisthenics
Needless to say, boy, I'm bad to the bone
Makin' love to my mic like Jarobi on the phone"
They speed up the tempo on this one to good effect.
"Bob Power, you there?
(Yeah) Adjust the bass and treble
Make my sh*t sound clear"
Only two more tracks to go. The penultimate one being "Lyrics To Go."
Damn, this beginning-to-end phatness is getting repetitious. Kinda
makes me wish they'd fall off just so I'd have something to talk
about. Maybe I'll just trash this track on GP.
"Capitatin' fools, yo, as if my name was Jason"
"Talk a lot of trash
But no one could seem to beat it
Pull out the microphone
And watch the Phifer make you eat it"
"Always wanted this 'cause it surely beats the scramblin'
I'm Jordan with the mic...
Hunh, wanna gamble?"
The muzak and the lyrics are only Phat and.... sigh. Never mind.
"Please proceed with caution
'Cause the lyrics is fatal
I could kick your little
Monkey ass like Kato
Formulate your rhymes
Like a child forms play-do
Calm and serene
Like the study was Tao
Poetry machine with correct mechanisms
Immune to disease, I defeat organisms"
So we come to the end. "God Lives Through" wraps it all. Yes, it's
phat. Yes, the lyrics are intense and the muzak is all that. Yes,
yes, yes.
"There's a millon MCs who claim they want some
But see, I create sounds that make your ears go numb"
I swear this album ends too quickly.
