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‘We got it from Here…:’ Thank you for this album

This is the sixth studio album released by A Tribe Called Quest since their formation in 1985. (Photo Courtesy of AdLab)

Henry St. Pierre
Connector Staff

Hip-hop nowadays would be drastically different had it not been for A Tribe Called Quest and their signature blend of jazz and intellectual rap. This sound has permeated throughout music in the couple decades since A Tribe Called Quest blew up out of New York City. Hip-hop is arguably the most popular musical genre today, and had it not been for groups like A Tribe Called Quest, this would definitely not be the case.

“We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service,” the group’s sixth album, was recorded in relative secrecy after the group’s rejuvenation following a 2013 performance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon. Rappers who have been especially influenced by jazz rap and those out of New York City are heavily featured on this album, which is, by the way, an extraordinary, enjoyable and intelligent hour of music. Names such as Andre 3000, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Consequence, Kendrick Lamar and Jack White provide instrumentation and vocals.

The album’s songs split into an A Side and a B Side, eight to each side. Most lyrics, as is custom for the jazz rap genre the group pioneered, discuss ideas and messages centered around socio-political issues, but the lyrics are delivered in flows atop funky beats that sound as though they were pulled right out of the early 1990s. This intellectual jazz-rap sound is still relevant today, and it has been made extremely popular over recent years because of acts like Outkast, Talib Kweli and Kendrick Lamar.

Labeling jazz rap as “intellectual,” as is often the case, seems a tad pretentious. However, in the case of A Tribe Called Quest, and especially this album, it is a perfect label. The members of the group as well as the guest features all discuss cultural issues in ways that avoid being corny or cringe-worthy by doing so in an entertaining and funny manner.

It is difficult to describe what makes the album so special without simply telling someone to just listen to it. The statements made in tracks such as “The Space Program,” “The Donald,” “Dis Generation,” “Mobius,” and “Movin Backwards,” (just to name a few) are true poetry infused with head-knocking funk. “The Space Program,” for example, is an analogy about the systemic racism against blacks, except instead of making it out of an impoverished neighborhood, the metaphor is extended to the entire Earth itself being the place where the impoverished and those held down by systemic injustices reside. “There ain’t a space program for n****s, yeah, you stuck here, n***a,” is the hook of the track, and it is certainly a hook that does its job.

Every lover of music should be able to find something they enjoy about this album. Love beats? This album’s beats are fantastic. Love lyricism and poetry? Go read the album’s lyrics. Love rappers who can flow? Just listen. Love star-power? How can you have more star-power than Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Andre 3000, Jack White and Busta Rhymes, on top of New York City hip-hop legends?

It is undeniable how important A Tribe Called Quest is to hip-hop, and probably to music in general. Hip-hop’s influence on music of today is enormous. The Billboard charts are constantly dominated either by hip-hop tracks, or pop or rock tracks infused with elements of hip-hop. This never would have happened had it not been for A Tribe Called Quest and the transcendence of jazz rap out of New York City to across the country, which led to hip-hop exploding into the genre it is today.

The rightful praise this album has received is proof that the sounds of true music will always be timeless because good art is always timeless. A sound birthed decades ago instills intellectualism, artistry and overall musical genius into this modern age in a time where this country could desperately use some more brains.

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One Comment;

  1. Jim said:

    Very nice review, but I think you are remiss in your failure to mention Phife Dawg’s passing in early 2016.

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