A Tribe Called Quest

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A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service After 30 plus years in hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest 6th and final studio record is here. We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service is a celebration of the groups impact on music and culture. If you’re interested in buying the record we have links to all formats on our store page as well as A Tribe Called Quest Merchandise.

Who is A Tribe Called Quest? The story behind the album. You’ve probably heard of the name but the history and the members are After not releasing an album for 18 years, the group reconveined for a mini crucial in understanding the impact of the band. The four members all come reunion tour. As they spent more time together it became obvious that they need- from different backgrounds but formed together in New York. Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, ed to get in the studio and make a new record. The group got to work and started Jarobi, and Ali Shaheed are the members of the Tribe and they all have their own recording when a horrible scenario occured in the midst of the creation process. unique story.

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Tracklisting Reviews

1. The Space Program 2. We The People... rollingstone.com 3. Whateva Will Be “One of the most timeless rap groups ever has 4. Solid Wall of Sound returned...” 5. Dis Generation 6. Kids... pitchfork.com 7. Melatonin “It can’t be said enough how simply good this 8. Enough!! record sounds and feels. ” 9. Mobius 10. Black Spasmodic recordcollectormag.com 11. The Killing Season “Tribe have retaken their throne as hip-hop’s 12. Lost Somebody greatest band.” 13. Movin Backwards 14. Conrad Tokyo theneedledrop.com 15. Ego “A Tribe Called Quest returns to rap one last time 16. The Donald without skipping a beat.”

THE TRIBE

Q-Tip Legendary hip-hop innovator and Grammy award winner Q-Tip first rose to prominence in 1988 as one of the founders of the trail- blazing hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, whose cerebral wordplay, socially conscious themes, and intricate fusion of jazz and other genre-bending influences changed hip-hop’s lexicon forever. Q-Tip continued to evolve and expand his profile as a solo artist with such critically acclaimed solo projects as 1999’s Amplified and 2008’s The Renaissance. Outside of his production work with A Tribe Called Quest, he has also produced for a range of artists across genres in- cluding Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Whitney Houston, Mark Ronson, Kanye West, John Legend and more.

Phife Dawg Phife was the battle hungry emcee who had witty punch lines and an uncanny knowledge of sports. Sports played a major role in Phife’s career. He was the first to wear throwback jerseys in the early 90’s, a trend that would catch on 11 years later. Phife not only rapped about sports, he lived it. He considers himself the one person who was truly able to bridge the gap between music and sports. In the late 90’s, even with multi-platinum success ATCQ decided to disband but Phife continued his musical journey and debuted his solo LP ‘Ventilation’ with production from music’s greats; Hi-Tek, Pete Rock, and Jay Dee. Phife rhymed about his groups’ unexpected breakup, speculation as to why they broke up and how things could have been different.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad was born and raised in Bedford Stuyve- sant, Brooklyn. At an early age Ali became fascinated with music. His earliest memory of this fascination was toting around a yellow Mick- ey Mouse transistor radio he received as a gift. “I brought that with me everywhere; I was comforted by the sounds that came from that little box,” he says. Other memories lead to house parties his mother would throw where his Uncle Mike would deejay. It was at one of these parties that the then eight-year-old Ali took control of the mixer and turntables and began his life long musical journey. Ali went from local neighborhood deejay to a world-renowned producer and musician. Now he is the co-host of the acclaimed radio show Microphone Check on NPR.

Jarobi White Jarobi White, born in St. Albans, Queens met future group member Phife Dawg in the early 1980s. The two went on to collaborate with Q-Tip and eventually Ali Shaheed Muhamad to form, A Tribe Called Quest. Jarobi became a member of the group acting as host on the first album, People’s Instinctive Travels. He continued to provide in- spiration and input for many of Tribe’s albums throughout the groups history. In 2007, Jarobi was also honored with A Tribe Called Quest at VH1’s fourth annual Hip Hop Honors ceremony. At the pinnacle of the group’s success, White made the decision to leave Tribe to pursue his true passion in culinary arts. His talent has taken him to Washington D.C., South Carolina and Atlanta where he has made a name for himself as an executive chef and restaurant manager.

The story behind the album. Visit the store. After not releasing an album for 18 years, the group reconveined for a mini Visit our store to buy the album in digital, cd, and vinyl formats. We also reunion tour. As they spent more time together it became obvious that they need- have merchandise from the album for sell. Navigate your way to the full store if ed to get in the studio and make a new record. The group got to work and started you’re looking for the older A Tribe Called Quest albums and other Tribe merchan- recording when a horrible scenario occured in the midst of the creation process. dise.

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THE STOR Y

We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service On March 22, at 3 a.m., Q-Tip and Phife Dawg were on the phone. The two rappers — lifelong friends from Queens and half of the influential hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest — were “yucking it up,” Q-Tip recalled, and talking about a project few people outside their inner circle knew was in the works: a new Tribe album, the first in 18 years.

Q-Tip was in the million-dollar recording studio he built in the basement of his stately New Jersey home; Phife was at his place in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Phife was fired up about a potential track: “Yo, make sure you send me that beat. I’ve got to put some verses to it. That beat is fire!” Q-Tip said in a recent interview in the lounge of his studio, surrounded by white shelves holding hundreds of vinyl LPs. The lighthearted conversation ended around 4 a.m. and Q-Tip went back to All of the recording sessions for “We Got It From Here, Thank You for Your work. Nineteen hours later, Phife’s manager called. His friend and lifelong collab- Service” took place at Q-Tip’s studio, which Busta Rhymes called “phenomenal.” orator was dead. Soft design touches like bamboo floors and pink mood lights contribute to the warm aesthetic. But a vibe also flows from the history in the room. The main re- The cause was complications from diabetes; Phife was 45. The other members cording board has captured the music of Blondie, the Ramones and Art Blakey. of A Tribe Called Quest were shattered. The rapper Jarobi White was at Q-Tip’s There’s a tape reel that was used by Frank Zappa and equipment from the Rolling house and heard people screaming. “We broke down,” he said. “There were two Stones and Jimi Hendrix. puddles of goo on the floor.” The producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad was in Sher- man Oaks, Calif., walking out of an Apple store with a replacement iPhone when Q-Tip had one major rule for the album: He insisted that everyone who was a part the call came in. “I was in shock,” he said. Without any of his contacts, he stood of it come work in the studio. “If you wrote your rhyme somewhere else, you still paralyzed, unable to reach out to anyone. had to come back and lay your verse in Q-Tip’s house,” Busta Rhymes said. “So we pretty much did every song together. Everybody wrote his stuff in front of ev- On Friday, Nov. 11, A Tribe Called Quest will honor the death of their brother, re- erybody. Everybody spat their rhymes in front of each other. We were throwing leasing on Epic Records “We Got It From Here, Thank You for Your Service,” the ideas around together.” group’s sixth album. It features all four of the group’s members plus a host of guests — André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Elton John, Jack White and Busta Rhymes, It was thrilling to the guys to watch stars like Jack White, Mr. Lamar and André a longtime Tribe collaborator who made a heralded appearance on the 1992 pos- 3000 come through and record. It was even more exciting to have their brother se cut “Scenario.” Busta Rhymes said he saw Q-Tip and Phife in the studio vibing Phife around all the time. But now some of the group members think that all that the way they did in the old days. “I seen them laughing and joking and high-fiving, traveling may have contributed to grinding him down, physically. “Doing this al- and you can just see that young, invigorated ‘we’re-just-getting-our-first-opportu- bum killed him,” Jarobi White said simply. “And he was very happy to go out like nity-to-do-this’ energy again!” he said. Q-Tip noted, “I hadn’t seen Phife that happy that.” since we were kids.”

In the months since Phife died, Q-Tip has worked to finish what he called “the final Tribe album.” Its title is the one Phife wanted. What does it mean? “I don’t know,” Q-Tip said. “We’re just going with it because he liked it.”

Q-Tip said it was tough to finish the album. From April until late October, he re- corded and tweaked his way to the end, but one part was never easy. “It’s so hard for me to sit in there and hear his voice,” Q-Tip said. “Sometimes I just have to like take a break and walk away. It gets heavy. It doesn’t necessarily get sad, it just gets heavy. I literally feel the energy from him when I hear his voice.”

Q-Tip, Jarobi White, Mr. Muhammad and everyone in the Tribe family are still in mourning. The wound is fresh. “I’m gonna be missing him for a while,” Q-Tip said, with an audible lump in his throat. He paused. “God is in control,” he said. “And I feel at peace. I feel hopeful. I feel Phife with me.”

Who is A Tribe Called Quest? Visit the store. You’ve probably heard of the name but the history and the members are Visit our store to buy the album in digital, cd, and vinyl formats. We also crucial in understanding the impact of the band. The four members all come have merchandise from the album for sell. Navigate your way to the full store if from different backgrounds but formed together in New York. Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, you’re looking for the older A Tribe Called Quest albums and other Tribe merchan- Jarobi, and Ali Shaheed are the members of the Tribe and they all have their own dise. unique story.