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 Low-key, jazz rap maraudin' Oct 02, 2009
One could say that A Tribe Called Quest's third album is a little boring in the beginning, due to the lack of low bass and the lack of noise in the jazz samples.
However, "Midnight Marauder" has a greater variety of samples that sound smoother and cooler than most other rap groups can even handle.
The album starts somewhat off-kilter with "Steve Biko." The track lacks the in-your-face rhythm of the bass which characterized their sophomore album as one of the best. However, the song is a hard-hitting protest song and a tribute to South African humans rights activist and political revolutionary Steve Biko.
DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad adds in a smooth chordal progression with keyboards and dulcimers in "Award Tour," the big single on the record. Phife gives his best rap on this track, which includes the cool line, "Yo, wack-a** crews wanna diss, it makes me laugh/Well, my track record's longer than a DC-20 aircraft."
In fact, Phife has quite a few notable moments, rapping about his woes and troubles in "8 Million Stories." Although he had a fun solo rap in the second album, "The Low End Theory," his rap in this song easily trumps it. He gives a moving rap about living on a tight budget, buying gifts for his whiny brother and getting sticked up by some gangsters.
Other tracks, such as "Sucka N***a," are even cooler than the songs on "The Low End Theory." The bass line, guitar and keyboards sound incredible smooth as Q-Tip raps the coolest chorus line, "Sucka n***a, n***a n***a/I throw the sucka in the front for the ones that front."
This is probably the Tribe's most consistent collection. Each song seamlessly runs into the other, with hard-hitting tracks such as "We Can Get Down" mellowed out with low-key tracks such as "Electric Relaxation."
An airline instruction-style narration over a light jazz track also sounds funny. It makes for some awesome transitions to other songs. Probably the best voice-over is the one before "Seven times out of 10, we listen to our music at night. Thus, spawns the title of this program. The word maraud means to loot. In this case, we maraud for ears."
Although fans will endlessly debate where Midnight Marauders ranks in significance to their other four albums, "Midnight Marauders" will certainly be remembered as one of the coolest rap albums ever made.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
1993 was the year that a lot of great albums came out, and this one is the BEST Apr 25, 2009
Midnight Marauders is the true definition of a hip hop classic. I do not understand why this album did not get 5 mics in The Source. Yes, People's Instinctive Travels and The Low End Theory were masterpieces, but so was Midnight Marauders. First of all, "Award Tour", which in my opinion is their best single, is on here. This album is bangin' from "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)" through "God Lives Through". There is absolutely no filler on this album. 1993 was Hip Hop's golden year, and this, along with "Enter The Wu-Tang", were the best albums to come out that year. If you don't have this album, you're sleeping on a CLASSIC.
Real Hip Hop Feb 06, 2009
Ashamed to say it but this is the first time I've ever listened to ATCQ. My honest reaction is what was I thinking?... If you have a passion for real hip hop that's original buy this album. The beats are laid back and the rhyming is on point.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Classic Dec 22, 2008
Classic! In this case we loot for ears... Uh? Do you really need to read a review about any TCQ album. If you don't know by now,...you'll never know. I bought this to replace the cassette tape version I used to rock back in the day when I was a teenager.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Classic Album Dec 02, 2008
One of the best hip hop albums of ALL TIME. Smooth beats and catchy yet clever rhymes.
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