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One of the greats! Jul 14, 2009
One of the greatest rap/hip hop albums of all time, these songs hit the bass and keep the beats pumpin'! Though simplistic at first blush, "Bonita Applebum" ends up being one of the greatest rap/hip hop songs ever made and continues to inspire young artists today.
CLASSIC MATERIAL Apr 25, 2009
What can I say about this album that hasn't been said before? This album is perfect, with no filler whatsoever. If you do not have this album, GO GET IT! It will blow your mind. And pick up Midnight Marauders as well, another ATCQ classic. I personally slightly prefer Midnight Marauders, but this comes a close second.
Here is my rating of ATCQ's discography
1. Midnight Marauders
2. The Low End Theory (#1 and #2 are close)
3. People's Instinctive Travels
4. The Love Movement
5. Beats, Rhymes, and Life
The Quintessential 90's hip hop album Jan 23, 2009
Besides maybe only Illmatic or Enter the Wu-tang, this is the quintessential Rap album of the 90's. Why? because it captures everything every hip hop album up to this point aspired to be, barring any of the more politically charged groups. The rhymes on this are pure battle rhymes... Phife raps about how he's a 5 foot monster and Q-tip raps about how he's the abstract poetic. The rhymes can get deeper, and do on song's like verbal Intercourse, where tip raps about what's wrong with the african american man/female relationship in the 90's. But for the most part, they are pure exercises in wordplay(What), or getting on the Tribe band wagon(Excursions). Does this make it not compelling, absolutely not! Tip and Phife could say anything and it would seem like a pulitzer winning poem. Their voices are so different sounding that you would instantly know who was who, even to the untrained ear, something very few rare for most rap groups. Tips nassaly tone and Phife's smooth voice r unmistakeable. They've got THE VOICE. something MC's, no matter how skilled rappers they are, would DIE for.
As for the music. Never do the beats try to be overly complex, they're powered by pure emotions and simplicity. A track like Jazz(we've got it) is built of, a nice drum loop, droning xlyaphones... very unpronounced, like moans in the background. Something J dilla and pete Rock would later capitalize on in later years. Then for the chorus comes a very low mixed horn sample, angelic almost just barely floating over the track. The subtleties they bring to the music was unmatched up to this point in hip hop. But at the same time, they could be super gritty. There are points in the music where everything but the drums drop out, and the artist is left rhyming over an atrociously dirty drum beat. Something that harkens back to the beginnings of hip hop. "Excursions", is built up of a plain upright bass loop, sounds boring... but its the way the tribe brings the drums in that makes u go wow...
Ok... It's not so simple after all, they just make it seem that way! The last and most important thing about the music is how expertly its mixed and how much BASS THERE REALLY IS. if you listen to this with headphones, your missing the story. But with a good system, you get the whole picture. The bass and drums are absolutely kicking, as hardcore as any of the bomb squad or NWA's productions. What makes this album so ground breaking is how they then mixed in the mellow jazzy horns into this sound! It's revolutionary. never had a group sounded like this! sure de la and the jungle bros had jazzy samples but they weren't built around such bare bones production. Please I defy you to find a more funky bassline than the one in "Check The Rhyme"! And then guess what? The most Blarring horns you ever heard for the chorus!
In the end, Marauders was more commercial, and their debut had the catchy singles, but this is their most perfect album the tribe ever made, and the most perfect album any rap group has ever made. hands down.
Essential Hip-Hop Oct 23, 2008
Not only is this essential hip-hop, it's essential music for true music lovers. What more can I say that hasn't already been said by countless other reviewers; this music is perfect. It's not only music for your mind but also moves your feet too. For those uninitiated I would listen to TCQ's "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" first to get a feel for the loose, jazzy, laidback arrangements with smooth flows from Q-Tip and Phife D. They were amongst the first true laidback philosophers of hip-hop that spawned the sub-genre now known as "alternative rap."
2 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 weak Oct 09, 2008
if you're someone who regularly listens to alot of hip-hop, you'll recognize that this album is not all that great. in my opinion, it's tribe's 3rd best record.
sure, there are a few quality tracks worth a listen, but the majority just don't do it for me. if you're looking to get started with some atcq, check out 'people's instinctive travels and the paths of rhythm, 'beats, rhymes and life' or 'midnight marauders', they won't let you down.
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