Tag: A Tribe Called Quest

Categories
Facebook Challenges Music

7 days/7 ’90’s songs Facebook Challenge

You’re probably familiar with these types of Facebook challenges that ask you to post something for seven days straight. They always start off with something like “to break up the monotony of Facebook….” I recently found a playlist of one which I did way, way back in 2016, which was a song from the ’90’s for seven days. I’d like to share that with you.

Day 1: A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario

I always seem to gravitate towards A Tribe Called Quest when I’m feeling down or angry about political issues, for some reason. Something about the laidback feel of the beats & the enthusiastic feel of the MCing always helps me to feel a little better. In 2016 I was reeling from the general election the previous year & the disastrous Brexit referendum earlier in the same year & therefore listening to Quest loads. A love of this video would have made choosing Scenario an easy task.

*

Day 2: Meat Beat Manifesto – Asbestos Lead Asbestos

I had only recently purchased their seminal album, Subliminal Sandwich, after someone compared one of my songs the second disc of bizarre, experimental soundscapes. This track, & it’s great video, is an excellent Triphop-influenced cover version of a World Domination Enterprises song. Regular readers may remember it cropping up during the Song of the Day (Covers) series.

*

Day 3: NOFX – The Decline

I wonder if I was thinking of value for money here, with this 18 minute Pop Punk epic. Sadly, there’s no video for this song. Pure & angry Pop Punk excellence. Bouncy & anthemic in equal parts. I remember thinking it was about the post-9/11 Bush administration when I first heard it (late) in the early ’00’s, but it’s pre-9/11 release (’99) rules that out. A savage diatribe against the ‘religious right’.

*

Day 4: Pavement – Here

Another song without a video, Here was my favourite Pavement song at the time of the challenge. A title which is constantly changing in my head. My most recent “best of all time” list actually placed Grounded in my top-ten. Here is a gloriously (if deceptively) simple slacker ballad with some incredibly memorable lyrics. A+ song.

*

Day 5: David Bowie – Little Wonder

David Bowie shocking & awing in equal measure with this Drum n Bass inspired tune. Great song, great video & a reminder that Bowie is one of the greatest, & most diverse, musical artists in history. I love how heavy & upbeat it is following the smooth slacker tones of Pavement’s Here.

*

Day 6: Inspiral Carpets – Saturn 5

Another awesome video & a Hammond Organ flavoured slice of ’90’s Indie, flavoured by ’60’s Psych Pop. A charmingly upbeat tribute to the band’s super heavy-lift vehicle of choice, the Saturn V rocket.

*

Day 7: Fugazi – Blueprint

A smooth & melodic tune from the Post-Hardcore pioneers. Blueprint drips with DIY, independent cool. Sadly no video again, but an absolutely superb tune form this most ethical of all Indie bands.

*

Here they are in a Spotify playllist:

Buy Tom a coffee?

Tom loves coffee. If you’ve enjoyed any of the content he’s created then please consider donating a few quid to buy him a cup.

£3.00

Advertisement
Categories
Hip Hop Music

Song of the Day (BLM): Fugees – Zealots

Day 8. I actually wanted to choose a different Fugees song for this, Rumble In The Jungle (feat. A Tribe Called Quest & Busta Rhymes), but it isn’t actually available on Spotify & I feel that the blogposts & the Spotify playlist are intrinsically linked.

Instead, I have chosen the song Zealots, which is easily my favourite tune from Fugees critically & commercially massive 1996 album, The Score. Every MC on this track gives top tier performances but my MVP would have to be Lauryn Hill. Her verse is ridiculous, her rhyme scheme is incredibly sophisticated & complex.

I haunt MCs like Mephistopheles, bringing swords of Damocles
Secret service keep a close watch as if my name was Kennedy
Abstract raps simple with a street format
Gaze into the sky and measure planets by parallax
Check out the retrograde motion, kill the notion
Of biting and recycling and calling it your own creation
I feel like Rockwell, somebody’s watching me
I got no privacy whether on land or at sea
And for you biting zealots, your raps are cacophonic
Hypocrite, critic, but deep inside you wish you had the pop hit
It hurts don’t it, a refugee come to your turf
And take over the earth

See my rhymes, are the type of fly rhymes
That can only get down with my crew
And if you try, to take lines or bite rhymes
We’ll show you how the refugees do

Yeah, yeah behold, as my odes, manifold on your rhymes
Two MCs can’t occupy the same space at the same time
It’s against the laws of physics
So weep as your sweet dreams break up like Eurythmics
Rap rejects my tape deck, ejects projectile
Whether Jew or gentile, I rank top percentile
Many styles, more powerful than gamma rays
My grammar pays, like Carlos Santana plays “Black Magic Woman”
So while you fuming, I’m consuming mango juice under Polaris
You just embarrassed cause it’s your last tango in Paris

And even after all my logic and my theory
I add a “Motherfucker” so you ignant niggas hear me
Crew remember take notes, as I sow my rap oats
And for you biting zealots, here’s a quote

Another MC lose his life tonight, Lord
I beg that you pray to Jesus Christ, why
Oh Lord, father don’t let him bury me, whoa

You can try but you can’t divide the tribe
These cats can’t rap, mister author I feel no Vibe
The magazine says the girl should have went solo
The guys should stop rapping – vanish like Menudo
Took it to the heart, but every actor plays his part
As long as someone was listening, I knew it was a start
For me to get my chance, grab my pen and revamp
Do a cameo while everybody do the dance
Quick now, cause you running out of luck-a
Playing Mr. Big, I’m gonna get you sucka
While you munching at your luncheon
I’ll be planning your assassination, then hit you like the Dutchman

I compress sound sets with my rap DBX
Then drop vocals on my 456 Ampex
Bring terror to the shop of horror
As she cry, “mi amor, ” the phantom dies in the opera
And to the younguns who carry gadgets
And kill six days a week, then rest on the Sabbath
Violence ain’t necessary, unless you provoke me
Then get buried like the great Mussolini
And for you biting zealots, your rap styles are relics
No matter who you damage, you’re still a false prophet

As a bonus, here’s the excellent Rumble In The Jungle (feat. A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes & Forte):

Looking for some fantastic music to listen to? Why not check out the Song of the Day (BLM) Spotify playlis?

Buy Tom a coffee?

Tom loves coffee. If you’ve enjoyed any of the content he’s created then please consider donating a few quid to buy him a cup.

£3.00

Categories
Hip Hop Music Song of the Day

Song of the Day (BLM): A Tribe Called Quest – We The People

Day 3. Okay, maybe I’d rather choose an older, classic Tribe tune but We The People is definitely the most relevant one to share right now. Released a mere week after the election of impeached president Donald Trump, We The People is concerned directly with the wave of populist nationalism, racism & intolerance that was sweeping the US at that time. The video is also very timely, dealing with police intimidation & violence against black people.

We The People was also one of the final verse Phife Dawg recorded before his untimely & tragic death in 2016. RIP Phife Dawg.

We don’t believe you ’cause we the people
Are still here in the rear, ayo, we don’t need you
You in the killing-off-good-young-ni**** mood
When we get hungry we eat the same fucking food
The ramen noodle
Your simple voodoo is so maniacal
We’re liable to pull a juju
The irony is that this bad bitch in my lap
She don’t love me, she make money, she don’t study that
She gon’ give it to me, ain’t gon’ tell me run it back
She gon’ take the brain to wetter plains, she spit on that
The doors have signs with, don’t try to rhyme with
VH1 has a show that you can waste your time with
Guilty pleasures take the edge off reality
And for a salary I’d probably do that shit sporadically
The OG Gucci boots are smitten with iguanas
The IRS piranha see a n**** gettin’ commas
N****s in the hood living in a fishbowl
Gentrify here, now it’s not a shit hole
Trendsetter, I know, my shit’s cold
Ain’t settling because I ain’t so bold but ay

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 fog and the smog of news media that logs
False narratives of Gods that came up against the odds
We’re not just n**** rappers with the bars
It’s kismet that we’re cosmic with the stars
You bastards overlooking street art
Better yet, street smarts but you keep us off the charts
So motherfuck your numbers and your statisticians
Fuck y’all know about true competition?
That’s like a AL pitcher on deck talking about he hittin’
The only one who’s hitting are the ones that’s currently spittin’
We got your missy smitten rubbing on her little kitten
Dreaming of a world that’s equal for women with no division
Boy, I tell you that’s vision
Like Tony Romo when he hitting Witten
The Tribe be the best in they division
Shaheed Muhammad cut it with precision
Who can come back years later, still hit the shot?
Still them tryna move we off the fucking block
Babylon, bloodclot
Two pon yuh headtop

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

RIP Phife Dawg memorial memorial

Buy Tom a coffee?

Tom loves coffee. If you’ve enjoyed any of the content he’s created then please consider donating a few quid to buy him a cup.

£3.00

Categories
Hip Hop Song of the Day

Song of the Day (A-Z): A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario (feat. Leaders Of The New School)

Day 19 (S). In Scenario, A Tribe Called Quest & Leaders Of The New School combine their powers to drop what is widely considered the best posse rap. Each rapper gives jaw-dropping performances & the Q-Tip production is excellent.

Some also credit Scenario as being the song which launched Busta Rhymes’ career. His verse here is ridiculously good & has passed into Hip-Hop culture & mythology to such an extent that other artists quote from it (“Raow, raow like a dungeon dragon”) in respect.

The music video, directed by Jim Swaffield, plays on an interactive desktop, and features cameo appearances by Spike Lee, De La Soul, Brand Nubian, Fab Five Freddy and Redman.

from Wikipedia

Here we go yo, here we go yo
So what so what so what’s the scenario
Here we go yo, here we go yo
So what so what so what’s the scenario

A-yo Bo knows this (what?) and Bo knows that (what?)
But Bo don’t know jack, cause Bo can’t rap
Well what do you know, the Di-Dawg, is first up to bat
No batteries included, and no strings attached
No holds barred, no time for move faking
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon
Brothers front, they say the Tribe can’t flow
But we’ve been known to do the impossible like Broadway Joe so
Sleep if you want NyQuil will help you get your Z’s, troop
But here’s the real scoop
I’m all that and then some, short dark and handsome
Bust a nut inside your eye, to show you where I come from
I’m vexed, fuming, I’ve had it up to here
My days of paying dues are over, acknowledge me as in there (yeah!)
Head for the border, go get a taco
Watch me wreck it from the jump street, meaning from the get-go
Sit back relax and let yourself go
Don’t sweat what you heard, but act like you know

Yes yes y’all (yes y’all!)
Who got the vibe it’s the Tribe y’all (Tribe y’all!)
Real live y’all (live y’all!)
Inside outside come around
(Who’s that?) Brown!
Some may, I say, call me Charlie
The word is the herb and I’m deep like Bob Marley
Lay back on the payback, evolve rotate the gates
(Contact!) Can I get a hit? (Hit!)
Boom bip with a brother named Tip and we’re ready to flip
East coast stomping, ripping and romping
New York, North Cak-a-laka, and Compton
Checka-checka-check it out
The loops for the troops, more bounce to the ounce
And wow how now wow how now Brown cow
We’re ill till the skill gets down
For the flex, next, it’s the textbook old to the new
But the rest are doo-doo
From radio, to the video, to Arsenio
Tell me! Yo, what’s the scenario

Scooby Doo, whoopie doo
Scenarios, radios, rates more than four
Scores for the smores that smother dance floors
Now I go for mine, shades of sea shore
Ship-shape plush Grape Apes to play tapes
Papes make drakes baked for the wakes
Of an L-AH, an E-ADER, simply just a leader
Bass innerspace means peace see ya later
Later (later!), later alligator
Pop blows the weasel and the herb’s the inflater
So yo the D what the O, incorporate I-N-C into a flow
Funk flipped flat back first this foul fight fight fight
Laugh yo, how’d that sound? (oh!)

It’s a Leader Quest mission and we got the goods here (here!)
Never on the left cause my right’s my good ear (ear!)
I could give a damn about a ill subliminal
Stay away from crime so I ain’t no criminal
I love my young nation, groovy sensation
No time for hibernation, only elation
Don’t ever try to test, the water little kid
Yo Mr. Busta Rhymes, tell him what I did

I heard you rushed and rushed, and attacked
Then they rebuked then you had to smack
Causing rambunction throughout the sphere
Raise the levels of the boom inside the ear

You know I did it
So don’t violate or you’ll get violated
The Hip Hop sound is well agitated
Won’t ever waste no time on the played out ego
So here’s Busta Rhymes with the scenario

Watch, as I combine all the juice from the mind
Heel up, wheel up, bring it back, come rewind
Powerful impact – boom! – from the cannon
Not bragging, try to read my mind just imagine
Vocabulary’s necessary
When digging into my library
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!
Eating Ital Stew like the one Peter Tosh
Uh! Uh! Uh! All over the track man
Uh! Pardon me, uh! As I come back
As I did it yo I heard you beg your pardon
When I travel through the town I roll with the squadron
Raow, raow like a dungeon dragon
Change your little drawers cause your pants are sagging
Try to step to this, I will twist you in a turban
And have you smelling ripe like some old stale urine
Chickity-choco, the chocolate chicken
The rear cock diesel, buttcheeks they were kicking
Yo, bust it out before the Busta bust another rhyme
The rhythm is in sync (Uh!) the rhymes are on time (time!)
Rippin’ up the sound just like Horatio
Observe the vibe and check out the scenario

Here we go yo, here we go yo (yeah, my man, mothafucka)
So what so what so what’s the scenario
Here we go yo, here we go yo
So what so what so what’s the scenario

Buy Tom a coffee?

Tom loves coffee. If you’ve enjoyed any of the content he’s created then please consider donating a few quid to buy him a cup.

£3.00