Happy 25th Anniversary to A Tribe Called Quest’s fourth studio album Beats, Rhymes and Life, originally released July 30, 1996.
The generally accepted story is that things started to fall apart for A Tribe Called Quest with Beats, Rhymes and Life. After a transcendent three-album run that helped shape and redefine hip-hop’s sound, the Queens-based crew presumably lost their way on their fourth album. Many believe that when the album was released 25 years ago, it was a clear signal that one of the greatest groups ever was starting to falter.
Personally, I don’t have as many issues with Beats, Rhymes and Life. I agree that it’s not Tribe’s best album. I also agree that it’s a step behind their first three projects. But I’ve never considered it a stain on their legacy or that it served as a harbinger of dire times ahead for the crew.
Beats, Rhymes and Life dropped during what was a significant summer for hip-hop music. Just weeks before, the group’s Native Tongue cohorts De La Soul had made their triumphant return with Stakes Is High, one of the best albums of the year and a declarative statement against commercialism in hip-hop. With the Native Tongues “officially reinstated,” it stood to reason that A Tribe Called Quest would be able to craft a similarly powerful album.
To their credit, Tribe didn’t try to make a carbon copy of either The Low End Theory (1991) or Midnight Marauders (1993) with Beats, Rhymes and Life. The project sounds different than anything the group had released before and has its own distinctive sonic and lyrical sensibilities. However, while its individual components can be quite entertaining, it’s not quite as cohesive. While I very much enjoy the result, it’s impossible to deny that it’s missing…something.
A part of what made Beats, Rhymes and Life different from other Tribe albums was its production. Previously, Kamaal “Q-Tip” Fareed had handled most of the beats for the group. For Beats, they utilized the production team The Ummah, made up of Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and soon-to-be legendary beatmaker James “Jay Dee” Yancey a.k.a. J Dilla.
Q-Tip met Jay Dee through keyboardist Amp Fiddler while performing with Lollapalooza in 1994. Fiddler, who had been playing with Funkadelic, had talked up Dilla to Q-Tip throughout the festival tour, and finally introduced the two during the Detroit stop. After listening to a Slum Village demo that Jay Dee gave to him, Q-Tip was enraptured with his production skills, and decided to bring him into the fold. The Ummah had made beats from Busta Rhymes’ The Coming and Da Bush Babees’ Gravity earlier in 1996, but Beats was the first project that the team produced nearly in its entirety.
There has been a lot of talk surrounding the duration of time that elapsed between the release of Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders, but it’s worth noting that the gap between Midnight and Beats, Rhymes, and Life is even longer. This time out, the group went nearly three years between albums. Some of this delay is likely related to extensive touring, as well as inter-personal complications between members of the group.
Much of the inter-group static came from the recording process for Beats, Rhymes and Life. The late Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor had moved to Atlanta shortly after the completion of Midnight Marauders and when the group began putting the album together, he initially wanted to record his vocals down south. Q-Tip, however, felt that all members of the group needed to be together in the same studio for the album to be successful. The arrangement put a strain on Phife’s chemistry with Q-Tip and contributed to the former becoming disillusioned with A Tribe Called Quest as a whole.
Phife also suggested that Q-Tip’s conversion to Islam shortly before the recording process started to change the atmosphere. He asserted that the album is more serious-minded and less fun than the group’s previous entries. While Beats does feature some of the group’s most topically “serious” recordings, as a whole, Tribe’s care-free spirit is still apparent throughout the release.
Any frustration Phife may have had with the recording process doesn’t show up in his performance on the record. I know the conventional wisdom is that the 5-foot rapper made his breakthrough on Low End Theory and really came into his own on Midnight Marauders, but I think he may have given his overall strongest performance on Beats. He no longer rapped like he had something to prove, instead sounding comfortable and confident in his skills.
The “problems” with the album’s reception started early. Some of the group’s audience expressed their initial apprehension when the album’s first single, “1nce Again,” was released. The song tries to serve as a continuation of “Check the Rhime,” the classic first single from Low End Theory, with Phife and Tip creating a similar call-and-response chorus and “pass-the-mic” verse structure. However, its bubbly sound shares more musical sensibilities with tracks like “Award Tour” and “Electric Relaxation.”
The biggest red flag was singer Tammy Lucas’ vocal contributions to the song. Tribe had incorporated singing into their compositions before, so this wasn’t a huge departure. However, the first inklings of the Shiny Suit era of hip-hop were becoming apparent shortly before the album was released, so many hip-hoppers were on the watch for questionable musical behavior. Enlisting a singer then best known for her collaborations with Guy set many on edge.
“1nce Again” is actually a decent song. The vibraphone heavy beat is a certified head-nodder, and both Tip and Phife handle themselves well on the mic. Lucas’ vocals ultimately don’t add too much to the song, but they also don’t detract. As a whole, the song does come across as “Tribe lite,” in that it’s undeniably entertaining and in keeping with the group’s vibe, but also somewhat slight.
Beats doesn’t really start out on the right foot either. Tribe has never been known for creating straight battle shit, but they make their best effort on the album-opening “Phony Rappers.” The song just slightly misses the mark, and as a result, it feels a little forced.
You certainly wouldn’t expect Q-Tip to start an album with a tale of being challenged to a rap battle on the subway. But after the initial shock, the rest of his verses are pretty middling. On the other hand, Phife very much delivers, mocking an opponent’s dependency on marijuana: “Talkin’ ‘bout ‘I need a Phillie right before I get loose,’ / Poor excuse; Money, please, I get loose off of orange juice.”
“Phony Rappers” also introduces a controversial component to Beats, as it features the rapper Dexter “Consequence” Mills Jr., Q-Tip’s cousin. Consequence was an unknown to most Tribe fans before Beats and his sole appearance prior to this album was on an alternate version of “The Chase Pt. 2,” which appeared as a B-side on the “Award Tour” single. On “Phony Rappers,” Consequence is decent, but ultimately unremarkable.
But after a so-so start, Beats finds a good groove with “Get a Hold.” It’s one of a few of the album’s solo exhibitions by Q-Tip, who drops knowledge over a laid-back beat created by Jay Dee, who apparently created the track in less than 15 minutes in his studio the size of an office cubicle.
In-between haunting vocals lifted from The Cyrcle’s “The Visit,” The Abstract both celebrates his success and ponders his own spirituality. The song’s third verse is one of his lyrical masterworks, as he reflects on his efforts to live righteous, knowing that he will sometimes, inevitably, fall short. “We all got faults, don't ever try to think that you perfect,” he raps. “We all are human beings, there’s bullshit at the surface / Sometimes, I mean, we rhyme, damn, we ain’t prophets / And if you think so, you need to stop it.”
Tribe is more successful at asserting its own superiority on “The Pressure,” deciding to approach the song from the perspective of bringing people together. In this case, Q-Tip and Phife position themselves as ambassadors of hip-hop culture, touting their broad appeal to audiences from all walks of life, while still maintaining their artistic integrity. Over a funky bassline and guitar licks sampled from Funkadelic’s “Get Off Your Ass and Jam,” Q-Tip raps, “Nowadays I strive to be a very good influence / Even though not too long ago I was a truant / Now I'm droppin' it on this and many broad topics / From man's obsession with money to holy prophets.”
Another of the album’s best entries is “The Hop,” which is the only track not produced by The Ummah. Instead, the track is handled by Rashad Smith, who, as a member of the production duo Tumbling Dice, was an in-house producer for Uptown and Bad Boy Records, as well as a member of Puff Daddy’s Hitmen team. Smith proves to be a good fit, crafting a track that’s actually the most reminiscent of Tribe’s Midnight Marauders sound by flipping smooth elements from Henry Franklin’s “Soft Spirit.” Phife shines on the track, delivering brief declarative lines, often letting each rhyme breathe for a bit. “I packs it in like Van Halen,” he raps. “I work for mine. You? you're freeloading like Kato Kaelin / I’m representing with my crew / Mess around, bite my rhymes, I’ll beat that ass with my shoe.”
Many of the other tracks featuring Consequence a.k.a. Dexter St. Jacques are pretty damn good. If nothing else, he’s unobtrusive on tracks like “Motivators,” “Mind Power,” and “Word Play.” The jazzy “Motivators” features all three emcees kicking multiple short verses about their ability to stay positive and unaffected by celebrity hype. The Dilla-produced “Word Play” is built around an interesting concept, as each take turns delivering four bar verses on the power contained in various words.
“Jam” is probably the best song that features Consequence. It’s one of a pair of narrative tracks on Beats, with all three emcees describing their various misadventures during the late night and early morning in a New York City club. All three try to navigate the chaos of the club scene, indulging in marijuana and dealing with shady females. The track, made from a guitar and organ loop from the Howard Roberts Quartet’s “Old Dirty Bossa Nova,” is the most fun musical contribution on the album.
As mentioned earlier, Q-Tip does get a fair number of solo exhibitions on Beats. “Keeping It Moving” is another strong submission. Over a catchy guitar loop, he scoffs at any claims that he’d dis the West Coast hip-hop scene, while slamming the ridiculousness of the West Coast/East Coast “beef” that was prominent in the mainstream at the time.
Meanwhile, Phife’s sole solo endeavor, “Baby Phife’s Return,” is the most aggressive entry on the album. Phife manages to calmly deliver a pair of tough as nails screeds. His first verse on the track is one of the best of his career, as he raps, “Kid, you know my flava: tear this whole jam apart / Fuck around and have your heart, like Jordan had Starks.”
Beats does end on its most sour note, as Tribe closes the album with “Stressed Out.” The song served as the album’s second single and it was their most blatant attempt at pop appeal. It features a smoothed-out, R&B-leaning piano track, with Faith Evans singing on the chorus, re-interpreting vocals from Anita Baker’s “Good Love.” The lyrics are decent, as Q-Tip and Consequence describe trying to make it through stressful situations. As well put together as the song is, it feels like the result of Tribe compromising their musical approach.
In some ways, “Stressed Out” is emblematic of Beats, Rhymes and Life in general. Though it might not have clicked with their core audience, it was a resounding commercial success. The album was certified Platinum and “Stressed Out” is one of the most commercially successful singles of Tribe’s career.
However, it’s probably safe to say that the seeds of Tribe’s eventual break-up were sown with this album. The group initially ended their run with The Love Movement (1998), which, if you hear various members of the group tell it, was made without their hearts in it. It’s another album that didn’t really connect with their fanbase, but it’s ultimately better than people remember.
As much as hip-hop fans associate Beats with the lesser “Stressed Out” and decent enough “1ince Again,” there’s a good deal to like about the album beyond these two singles. Everyone involved were professional enough to bring their A-game, and it features some really dope production. Beats, Rhymes and Life might not have given Tribe fans and hip-hop heads what they’d wanted, but it was definitively a Tribe album, and one worthy of note.
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