Episodes
Tuesday Mar 29, 2016
A Tribe Called Quest: Inspirational? Or Influential?
Tuesday Mar 29, 2016
Tuesday Mar 29, 2016
By Jim Shearer
Last week A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg, known mortally as Malik Taylor, passed away from complications of diabetes. He was 45.
As pop culture does when a legend passes away, he was immediately eulogized. TV personalities slipped in Phife lyrics during their broadcasts, music journalists beautifully spoke of his impact on both their lives and pop culture, and even mainstream hip-hop radio programs broke from format to play music from A Tribe Called Quest.
For me, it was a bittersweet affair.
First of all, it sucks that another legendary hip-hop crew from my formidable music years was forced into an early retirement, and because we live in the era of solo hip-hop, there may come a day when watching a hip-hop group perform live is as common as watching a Tyrannosaurus Rex swallow a tree branch.
On the other hand, I loved hearing Phife’s voice again and basking in his matter-of-fact, Yogi Berra-like rhymes, bookended with references to food and sports. I enjoyed looking at old pictures, and then reading tweets about how A Tribe Called Quest inspired so many people, but then as my feelings tend to do in moments like this, the sweet gave way to bitter.
I think people tend to mix up the words inspirational and influential.
I’m sure every young, relevant MC today can speak of the importance of A Tribe Called Quest, even remembering the first time they heard them. In that instance, it’s obvious that the Tribe was an inspirational hip-hip group, as for being influential, I don’t know?
It was great that mainstream hip-hop stations were playing A Tribe Called Quest songs, but before Phife died when was the last time you heard them on the radio (and I’m not talking about those classic-formatted hip-hop stations)?
When Adam Yauch died he received many remembrances from mainstream hip-hop, a world that had barely touched a Beastie Boys track since their debut album.
Whenever Public Enemy is discussed around the hip-hop campfire, they’re usually prefaced as being one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all-time. If that’s the case, how come there aren’t more groups like Public Enemy?
Since Public Enemy, there hasn’t been another Public Enemy. Rappers can shout them out as much as they want, but if they’re chasing after endorsement deals, shying away from social politics, and bringing in A-list pop stars to do hooks for them, Public Enemy wasn’t a great influence on them. (Apparently KRS-One wasn’t either.)
A week or so before Phife died, I was on A Tribe Called Quest kick. If you’re a fan of the music, you know exactly when the mood strikes: when you’re tired of eating hip-hop Quarter Pounders, but want something heartier than a hip-hop garden salad. Because there aren’t many groups that sound like A Tribe Called Quest, they usually work their way into my music listening rotation, and have for over the last 20 years.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if an act—like A Tribe Called Quest—is truly a unique and influential group in music history, their songs should always be in style, not just at the peak of their popularity or when a founding member passes away.
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