A Tribe Called Quest is one of the original innovators of hip hop. Their laid-back stylings and jazz-inspired beats helped to give birth to the movement known as jazz rap. Without A Tribe we wouldn’t have groups like Digable Planets, Jungle Brothers and Us3.
The group consists of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhamed and Jarobi White, who all met in high school. Q-Tip already had a pre-existing relationship with the group De La Soul, and he was part of a four song demo recorded for Jungle Brothers that led to a record deal with Jive.
A Low End Theory, Tribe’s third release, is what really put the group on people’s radar. It featured upright bass player Ron Carter filling in on the album, and the track “Scenario” became a sensation during the early 90s.
One of the group’s earliest live performances was the hip hop slot at Lollapalooza in 1994. They would release only two more albums after that show, the first coming in 1996. Q-Tip pursued a brief solo career shortly after Love Movement was released in 1998.
Q-Tip attempted to release an experimental jazz album in 2002 called Kamaal the Abstract. His record label rejected the release after it was deemed not commercial enough, but fans fought hard to keep the project alive. Eventually, Q-Tip did retain rights to the album and signed with Universal Motown to get it released.
The group briefly united in 2006 for a sold out tour that took them through Mexico, Canada and the US. They also headlined the 2008 Rock the Bells Tour, which featured names like Nas and Mos Def.
