Following a long period of media hype and speculation, the pioneering Hip-hop group is back with their latest and last album We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service.
“This is an excellent high note to end on but this is only telling me that the gas in [A Tribe Called Quest's] tank is NOWHERE near empty,” reads a response post written on Questlove's Instagram page, “I mean it feels vintage in its musicality but is such a 2016 record. And it's timing could really really truly couldn't be like—better because it's topical.”
And The Roots drummer got it right to mention the word “topical”, because that's exactly what listeners can expect. A Tribe Called Quest's final album witnesses the renowned pioneers donning a modern-day prophet persona, spitting out their ever-so-familiar hooks against contemporary issues, ranging from Donald Trump's recent political victory to long-term issues such as racism, sexism, faulty media, police brutality, and even the much-speculated “Space Program” en route to Mars.
It's Golden Age Hip-hop facing off with the modern world, and you'd be wont to not expect such grit and steel verses, such as in the track “We The People,” which has Q-Tip sympathizing with the oppressed, “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 album rallies all four original tribe members and enlists an impressive coalition of iconic artists, such as Kanye West, Andre 3000, Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Consequence, and Elton John.
Stream A Tribe Called Quest's latest album via Spotify.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
