While most of the players in the
jazz-rap
movement never quite escaped the pasted-on qualities of their vintage samples, with
The Low End Theory
,
A Tribe Called Quest
created one of the closest and most brilliant fusions of
jazz
atmosphere and
hip-hop
attitude ever recorded. The rapping by
Q-Tip
and
Phife Dawg
could be the smoothest of any
rap
record ever heard; the pair are so in tune with each other, they sound like flip sides of the same personality, fluidly trading off on rhymes, with the former earning his nickname (the Abstract) and
Phife
concerning himself with the more concrete issues of being young, gifted, and black. The trio also takes on the
game with a pair of hard-hitting tracks:
"Rap Promoter"
"Show Business,"
the latter a lyrical soundclash with
plus
Brand Nubian
's
Diamond D
Lord Jamar
, and
Sadat X
. The woman problem gets investigated as well, on two realistic yet sensitive tracks,
"Butter"
"The Infamous Date Rape."
The productions behind these tracks aren't quite skeletal, but they're certainly not complex. Instead,
Tribe
weaves little more than a stand-up bass (sampled or, on one track, jazz luminary
Ron Carter
) and crisp, live-sounding drum programs with a few deftly placed samples or electric keyboards. It's a tribute to their unerring production sense that, with just those few tools,
produced one of the best
albums in history, a record that sounds better with each listen.
is an unqualified success, the perfect marriage of intelligent, flowing
s to nuanced, groove-centered productions. ~ John Bush