Tag Archives: A Tribe Called Quest

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, Midnight Marauders

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2023 was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, the idea bloomed in my mind last year that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years. Due to some medical situations, I took a three+ month hiatus from blogging last year, so I didn’t finish the series. But I’m back at it, and I don’t mind extending into 2025 if you don’t!

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review covers 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

The Pharcyde, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992)– This album is a delight from start to finish! It lives up to its title, producing the audio equivalent of a spin through a bizarre fun house, with jazzy grooves, psychedelic effects, madcap vocal interludes, and just the right hint of disquiet. While it often comes across as cutting-up, there’s plenty of serious material on the way, critiquing Black stereotypes, police stops, and the effects of drugs on the community. Part of what makes the whole thing work is the chemistry- it was the product of four L.A.-area school friends, and has the feel of friends messing around. Wickedly quick-witted, musically literate friends! It was a moderate commercial success upon release, and the critics liked it pretty well, but everyone was a little befuddled by how far out of the mainstream of Southern California hip hop it was at the time. In retrospect, the album is seen as one of the foundations of 90s alternative hip hop, and influenced artists like J Dilla and Kanye West. And it remains a great listen today!

A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993)- Speaking of alternative hip hop, here comes an album that many consider to be both a peak of the golden era of that sound, and an inspiration to future versions of it. The group was aware of the pressure to top the critical and popular acclaim of their previous album, The Low End Theory, and their reaction was to relax into it, taking two years and working in a makeshift studio in group member Phife Dawg’s grandmother’s basement. In the music that resulted, they dive even further into using jazz, funk, and soul samples from the 70s, and harder, grittier beats. Weirdly, the sound is more gritty, but also more polished at the same time, and even gets into concept album territory with a framing introduction and intervals from a semi-robotic, but very soulful and socially conscious telephone operator. Extra credit if you go look at the front and back cover of the album, which features a 71-member who’s who of hip hop at the time. Kind of fitting, as the album is sometimes cited as the last common favorite of mainstream, alternative, East Coast and West Coast hip hop scenes.

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
  18. A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)/Ice Cube- Death Certificate (1991)
  19. Dr. Dre- The Chronic (1992)/Pete Rock and CL Smooth- Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!

50 Years of Hip Hop Album Review: The Low End Theory, Death Certificate

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Last year was the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and in honor of this anniversary, the idea bloomed in my mind that I should review the top 50 albums of that 50 years. As I crunched together a list from various sources, 50 proved to be too restrictive- many of the classics were getting squeezed out. So, to make a little more room, I opted for 100 albums, two for each of hip hop’s 50 years.

For its formative years, hip hop was a live entertainment form, with the first recorded singles not emerging until 1979, and the first albums in 1980. So my review will cover 1980-2023, with 50 posts of two albums each. The only ground rule I made for myself (besides looking for 2×50, aka 100, albums that were widely well-regarded) was that I had to have at least one from each year. As you’ll see by and by, some years get multiple albums, but since we have 100 spots for 43 years, it tends to all work out.

*June 2024 addendum: Due to some medical situations, I took a three+ month hiatus from blogging. It’s unlikely I’ll finish this series this year. But I’m back at it, and I won’t mind extending into 2025 if you don’t!*

And with that, let’s embark on our next installment!

A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991)– They weren’t the first to do this, in fact we’ve had several examples so far in this list, but this album is a whole new level of jazz sample-fueled hip hop. More than that, it consciously seeks to link the genre to the larger history of Afrocentrism and Black music in America, and to use that history to critique the ways the contemporary industry isn’t measuring up to the social and political legacy of the music. All of that might be a bit heavy, except it’s delivered with such an innovative music mix, and poetic and quirky flow and rhyme. In other words, this album overflows with the energy and positive power of the conscious hip hop of the nineties. Formed by a circle of high school friends from Queens, A Tribe Called Quest were co-founders of the Native Tongues Collective with Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Queen Latifah, and Monie Love. They went into this, their second album, with group MC Phife Dawg’s recent diagnosis of diabetes leaving him and fellow member/rapper/producer Q-Tip determined to make something beyond what they’d previously done, which led them to focus on the “low end” of the status of Black men and the bass end of music. The results speak for themselves, with an album that was their commercial breakthrough, a long term critical favorite, and an ongoing influence on the next generation of hip hop artists and producers. As for me, this genre of hip hop was my jam in the nineties. Listening to it now, there’s certainly an element of familiarity and nostalgia, but the energy, innovation, and downright fun is as fresh as ever.

Ice Cube, Death Certificate (1991)- It’s interesting that these two albums ended up together in post order, because this might very well be the yang to the yin of the prior selection. In all kinds of ways- the anger in the flow, the hard and dense mix, the lyrics sketching out the darkest sides of street life. But as is true of all yins and yangs, you can also see the inextricable link between the two. Both are founded on response to the frustration of the Black American experience, both are musically innovative while hearkening back to cultural heritage (jazz for A Tribe Called Quest, 70s funk and soul for Ice Cube), and both deliver their message with humor and artistic ambition. In Death Certificate‘s case, the very structure shows the intent to aim for statement, with a “death” side stating the problems of contemporary life, followed by a “life” side describing his vision of where things need to go, and intros/outros and sketch sections holding the whole thing together. So, despite personifying two nineties sub-genres that seem diametrically opposed musically and thematically- alternative/conscious hip hop and gangsta/g-funk hip hop- the aims and the means of these two albums are not so different. This is not to excuse the racialism, homophobia, and misogyny of Ice Cube’s lyrics so often on display here, that all deserves criticism. But I can see how much more crafted and ambitious this is than his previous album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, how much of the West Coast nineties sound it anticipates, and understand how it ended up on so many “best” lists.

If you’re curious about the sources I used to compile my list, you can check them out here:

And if you want to catch up on the previous installments, here they are…

  1. Sugarhill Gang- Sugarhill Gang (1980)/Kurtis Blow- Kurtis Blow (1980)
  2. Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder (1981)/Grandmaster Flash- The Message (1982)
  3. Wild Style Original Soundtrack (1983)/Fat Boys- Fat Boys (1984)
  4. Kurtis Blow- Ego Trip (1984)/Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C. (1984)
  5. Whodini- Escape (1985)/The Treacherous Three- The Treacherous Three (1985)
  6. Run-D.M.C.- King of Rock (1985)/LL Cool J- Radio (1985)
  7. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill (1986)/Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell (1986)
  8. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded (1987)/Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full (1987)
  9. LL Cool J- Bigger and Deffer (1987)/Big Daddy Kane- Long Live the Kane (1988)
  10. Boogie Down Productions- By All Means Necessary (1988)/EPMD- Strictly Business (1988)
  11. Eric B. & Rakim- Follow the Leader (1988)/Jungle Brothers- Straight Out the Jungle (1988)
  12. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton (1988)/Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back (1988)
  13. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)/Ultramagnetic MCs- Critical Beatdown (1988)
  14. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique (1989)/Big Daddy Kane- It’s a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
  15. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)/EPMD- Unfinished Business (1989)
  16. Geto Boys- Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo- Road To The Riches (1989)
  17. The D.O.C.- No One Can Do It Better (1989)/Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)

Finally, if you’d like a playlist for the entire list, you can find that here. Listen to it sequentially for the historical development of the genre, or play on shuffle for maximum historical scramble!