Thursday, November 19, 2015

Guest Post: Hubby's Musings on ATCQ

Hey, y'all.

I'm still here.  Just trying to figure out how to juggle it all.  I won't even fix my fingers to write about balancing it all, because I think balance is a farce, at least for me.

My husband stays on me about blogging.  I miss it.  I love it; I've just got to figure out how to juggle it.  In the meantime, he had a little something on his mind about the A Tribe Called Quest reunion tour that he needed to get off of his chest.  Remember, we're hard core music lovers.





This is serious business for us. So here's the scenario:




Enjoy!
If you want to know more about his musical tastes, follow him here or here.

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I know there is a lot of energy around this Tribe Called Quest reunion and what might happen afterward. I will saythat I am conflicted on some of the aftermath from this reunion. Here are a couple of things I do and don't want to see:

I DO want to see a tour. I attended the shows they had for Rock the Bells, and both years they put on great performances. Similar to Outkast or even Lauryn Hill, the nostalgia bump always makes what could be an okay show seem great when you start reciting Check the Rhyme or Bonita Applebum. There was animosity during one of the tours as seen in their documentary, and shows were still dope. I believe the continued beef will not affect them having a great show (but it may cut the tour short).


I DO want to see an album of unreleased material. I know that tracks like these are usually leftover for a reason - they were subpar to the actual material that was released. However, Tribe was so ahead of others that their sh!t still sounds better than 70% of the sh!t out today. I will bump that number up to 80% if you are between 29 and 34 and 95% if you are 35 and older. I am sure amongst these tracks are some gems. Couple that with possible unreleased Ummah tracks (check Wikipedia if you don't know who that group is), that makes me even more excited at what's floating around in that vault.




Finally, I DO NOT want to see a new album from ATCQ. Sure we yearn for this like a new Outkast or Lauryn Hill album; however I will point out exhibit A (like that subtle Jay Electronica reference?) as to why I don't want to see this. Gentlemen of the jury, I present the recent Dr. Dre release, Compton. We have been fiendin' for the follow up to Chronic 2001, and this what we got. After the hype and social media over reaction wore off, what you were left with was a lackluster effort from the good Doctor. While I hate to compare albums, I will compare an artist's output and this just didn't meet his previous work. Maybe it was the ghost writers or "co-producers" but the album just isn't very good to me....Back to Tribe, I want to keep them off the mic and not sully their legacy. Think about how disappointed you would be if you didn't get that same thrill and feeling you had when you listened to Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders. Hell, even The Love Movement and Beats, Rhymes, and Life were great albums; they unfortunately followed two all-time great records. I would equate this to Nas's Illmatic vs. It Was Written. Listen to It Was Written now and you will realize that it was an amazing album that rightfully would have a hard time eclipsing what people consider the greatest hip hop album of all time. Tribe would have the same issue only worse because of the lapse of time in releases.

So to wrap up, stay out of the booth but take your act on the road, ATCQ. Couple yourselves with De La Soul, and that would be a well attended show. Team up with Outkast, and y'all are selling out arenas. A man can dream.

Until next time, my wife and I will leave you with our unwavering love of ATCQ and each other - our first dance to Bonita Applebum.




6 comments:

  1. Well written, I could still go for an album however..I'm greedy..

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  2. Well written, I could still go for an album however..I'm greedy..

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Well said but I have to agree with Black Alien. Tribe always pushed the envolope of sound and had lyrics to go . . . ;-) . . . Case in point De La's effort for the latest work was sponsored by the fans. As one wise young lady said, "We want more!"

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