"It’s so hard for me to sit in there and hear his voice."

November 2, 2016 10:00 AM

Recorded just before the death of Phife Dawg in March, “We Got It From Here, Thank You For Your Service” is heavy with his presence. Loss haunts A Tribe Called Quest’s first album in 18 years.
posted by komara (12 comments total)

Amazing. This has to be one of the only times ever that "18 years later" is exactly the right time to release a new album. The production, lyrics, and overall aesthetic are intact, but have still matured (for lack of a better term) on par with the modern state of hip hop.

Also, 18 years. 1... 8... years since the last Tribe Called Quest album. This is the day that I am old.
posted by cmoj at 10:20 AM on November 2, 2016 [6 favorites]

One of the all time master crews, hands down. So looking forward to hearing this.
posted by blucevalo at 10:34 AM on November 2, 2016

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was maybe the 2nd full-length album I ever bought for myself, the month it came out on cassette. Growing up in NYC in the 1990s this music was THE backing soundtrack to our lives, the jam played at every party, the music bumping in your car when you finally got a license and a cheap ride. I've been a huge Tribe fan ever since, and I'm sad that we'll never get the chance to hear them perform this one.
posted by 1adam12 at 10:49 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

.

(and now I am going to read the story before I comment.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 5:30 PM on November 2, 2016

Thanks for the link, that was a great article. It's always hard to lose friends.
posted by ent at 5:37 AM on November 3, 2016

The article and entire situation is so, so sad but it seems like Phife and Q-Tip had repaired (or were repairing) the personal relationship between them. Seeing that all laid out in the 2011 documentary was brutal.

I often considered Phife to be the second fiddle to Q-Tip in the group, but its only when I really consider it that I realise Phife contributed so much to the groove and memorability of the music. Tribe were/are truly best as a complete package.

I look forward to the new album. I look forward to the many years of happy Tribe memories ahead of me too.
posted by sektah at 6:47 AM on November 3, 2016

"I often considered Phife to be the second fiddle to Q-Tip in the group, but its only when I really consider it that I realise Phife contributed so much to the groove and memorability of the music. Tribe were/are truly best as a complete package."

Same, really, until I heard part of Tip's first solo album and was like, "Yeah but where's Phife?" and I realized just how inextricably woven their voices and styles were. They were greater than the sum of their parts, and I'm glad they were on the path to repairing those damages before Phife left us.
posted by komara at 8:34 AM on November 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

This article is a touching piece to go with a really good album. (Stream on Spotify [embedded playlist], lyric video for We The People.... , Q-Tip talks through A Tribe Called Quest's tracklist (CBS This Morning, Nov 10, 2016))
posted by filthy light thief at 7:13 PM on November 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Listened to it twice through today.

It must be killing season, on the menu strangefruit
Whose juices fill the progress of this here very nation
Whose states has grown bitter through justice expiration
These fruitful trees are rooted in bloody soil and torment
Things haven’t really changed

- The Killing Season
posted by rtha at 6:12 PM on November 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Oompa Loompa samples... man.
posted by My Dad at 2:28 PM on November 14, 2016

It's pretty amazing how the new Tribe album matches the post-November 9 reality. I guess it was always the reality.
posted by My Dad at 11:18 AM on November 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

I quite like Movin Backward. One of the attractions of these guys is they're all the same age as me.
posted by My Dad at 8:36 PM on November 20, 2016 [1 favorite]