A Tribe Called Quest makes a Powerful Return

A Tribe Called Quest makes a Powerful Return

The new 2016 album from A Tribe Called Quest, "We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service."

The legendary hip-hop group that fused the sounds of jazz and the street so well in the 1990's is back, and clearly, the Tribe does have it from here. Their first album since The Love Movement in 1998, the announcement of their new album, We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service, was released on November 11, 2016 and happened to catch many by surprise. 

The album was announced by Tribe member Q-Tip over social media. He posted the following letter on Oct. 27, 2016:

Many ATCQ fans, and lovers of old school hip-hop were more then excited about the news of the release, but also realized that the Tribe were focused on more than just music: In 2015, the group performed together for the first time in 18 years on the Tonight Show...however, it was also on the same night as the Paris bombings (Nov. 13, 2015). This event would greatly influence the ground work for We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service.

This "final album" announcement was dedicated to honor loved ones, social injustice and political influence.

Something Old, Something New

The original members of A Tribe Called Quest:
Jarobi White (left), Q-Tip (back), Phife Dawg (front), Ali Shaheed Muhammed (right).

A Tribe Called Quest had always stood out from the crowd; original and unique in their sounds, lyrics and beats, they avoid the mainstream music avenue. In this album, ATCQ combines a interesting mash of sounds, mixing old school hip-hop, jazz, R&B, rock, east coast influence and a plethora of new beats that give a futuristic sound. This combination, as odd as it may be, mashes together nicely, making the listener feel like they are somewhere in between the past and the future.

In Memory of Phife

Making this album more emotional for the group and for their fans was the sudden death of group member Malik Taylor, most commonly known as Phife Dawg. Taylor had passed away on March 22, 2016 from complications of diabetes at age 45.

Phife Dawg

"It was all coming together nicely and as you may know, we lost our brother, may God rest his soul on March 22nd. But he left us with the blueprint of what we had to do," Q-Tip wrote in his announcement of We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service.

Although Phife Dawg had passed away eight months before the album's release, his contributions to the album were all new. Q-Tip went on to write that the lyrics from Phife Dawg were not "just recycled Phife bars;" they were pure, untapped Phife Dawg.

Phife Dawg came up with the name of the album, and although the other group members didn't fully know what it meant, they stuck with the title to honor their "partner in rhyme."

The song "Lost Somebody," was dedicated to the life of Phife Dawg. It's hook repeats the message:

Have you ever loved somebody?

Way before you got to dream?

No more crying, he’s in sunshine,

He’s alright now, see his wings.

Jarobi White and Q-Tip admitted that it was one of the most difficult songs that they ever had to record.

Tribe Collaborators

Busta Rhymes

For the new ATCQ album, not only did all of the original Tribe members come together, but brought in some very strong power from the rap industry to contribute on the album. The most obvious contributors are Busta Rhymes and Consequence, who's music were heavily influenced by the Tribe.

Consequence

"So we collected ourselves and along tribesmen, Busta (Rhymes) and Cons(sequence)...we completed what will be, obviously the final A Tribe Called Quest Album," Q-Tip wrote.

In addition to Busta Rhymes and Consequence, the album also includes vocals and raps from Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Anderson Paak, Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar and even Elton John.

The Deeper Message: Politics and Social Injustice

Yet of course, before the death of Phife Dawg, this album was intended to target social injustice, racism, inequality, and politics. Throughout the album, there is a sense of a revolt or a revolution that is bound to occur. This is heard very clearly in their song called "We The People."

We The People may be the most political song on the album, pointing out police brutality, racial and religious discrimination, equality and threats of deportation. The main hook sung by Q-Tip states:

"All you Black folks, you must go,

All you Mexicans, you must go,

And all you poor folks, you must go,

Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways,

So all you bad folks, you must go."

The first song on the album, The Space Program sets the tone for the rest of the album, claims that there's a "Mass un-blackening" in America at the moment.

Whateva Will Be is a very dark-toned song with a great beat, detailing that only the strong survive in this world and how each member of the group describes the world being stacked against them as black men.

The Killing Season, which includes the vocals of Consequence, Kanye West and Talib Kweli, discusses social injustices such as police brutality and the discrimination of American solders. One of Jarobi White's lines in the song says, "Connection to the sun so strong the relationship is lusted for

Causes men to suffocate, I can’t breathe no more," which is a direct reference to the death of Eric Garner, who was suffocated to death by an NYPD officer. Another lyric from Consequence states:

The old lady saw us on the lawn with the Henny,

Turn the pool party into the one from McKinney,

Might've been racist like the waitresses up in Denny’s,

Swore we had twelve gauges, automatics, and semis,

Now they wanna condemn me for my freedom of speech,

'Cause I see things in black and white like Lisa and Screech,

Presidents get impeached and others fill in the throne,

But veterans don’t get the benefit of feelin' at home.

The track Conrad Tokyo which features Kendrick Lamar, outlines economic and political issues with influences the 2016 race for president of the United States at the time. Phife Dawg delivers the following lyric on the track:

Rather watch the Nixon shit than politicians politic,

CNN and all this shit, gwaan yo, move with the fuckery,

Trump and the SNL hilarity,

Troublesome times kid, no times for comedy.

To close out the album, the last song is titled "The Donald" which is both a political reference to newly elected President Donald Trump and what also happened to be one of Phife Dawg's nicknames within the group.

Overall Review

The album as a whole gives different themes and emotions: From humor to serious issues, from politics and injustice in America, to the life and death of a close friend or of family. Amazingly, the lyrics that Phife Dawg provides in terms of politics and social justice issues somewhat foreshadowed the election results of the presidency in America. Then there are other instances where the legendary rapper's absence from the group is clearly felt. We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service is a great album for both old school hip-hop veterans and fans of today's rap and the futuristic sound, uniting multiple generations of rap and hip-hop, and proving that hip-hop music can still provide meaningful messages with deep meaning. This album can definitely have an influence in the industry and in America for time to come.