A Tribe Called Quest – Q-Tip, Phife Dawg (who passed away on March 22nd), Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White – the groundbreaking ’90s group that forever transformed the urban music landscape, detonates new shock waves on their first – and last – new studio album together in 18 years, WE GOT IT FROM HERE… THANK YOU 4 YOUR SERVICE, arriving November 11th on Epic Records.
WE GOT IT FROM HERE… represents the first new music from A Tribe Called Quest since they disbanded in 1998, after recording The Love Movement, their final album together. Renowned painter/photographer Richard Prince has been commissioned to create what promises to be show-stopping cover art for WE GOT IT FROM HERE…
“The extraordinary times in which we now find ourselves desperately call out for a new message from A Tribe Called Quest, and WE GOT IT FROM HERE… is that message,” said LA Reid, Chairman and CEO, Epic Records. “For nearly two decades, it has been my deepest personal wish to add one more chapter to their incredible legacy. I am deeply honored that Tribe entrusted us with this historic and final album.”
Last year marked the 25th anniversary of People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths of Rhythm, the 1990 debut album of A Tribe Called Quest, and one of the foundational pillars in the contemporary hip-hop pantheon, and the one that established ATCQ as a force to be reckoned with in the worlds of hip-hop and popular music. The album’s trio of Rap chart singles and iconic videos, “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo,” “Bonita Applebum,” and “Can I Kick It?” continue to resound today.
A Tribe Called Quest would go on to record three RIAA platinum hip-hop masterpieces, The Low End Theory (1991, including the #1 “Check the Rhime”); Midnight Marauders (1993, with “Award Tour,” “Electric Relaxation,” and “Oh My God” featuring Busta Rhymes); and the #1 Soundscan Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996, with “Stressed Out” featuring Faith Evans); before calling it a day on The Love Movement (with “Find A Way”) in 1998.
Consistently ranked at the very top tier of rap’s all-time most important groups, ATCQ has regrouped at various times over the past decade or so for live performances, including summer festivals and concert dates, even a couple of New York shows during Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour of 2013. Most recently in November 2015, they were seen performing on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, is support of the People’s Instinctive Travels 25th anniversary release.
ATCQ has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors (2007), and the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards (2014’s Special Achievement Award). They are also the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary film directed by lifelong hip-hop follower Michael Rapaport, entitled Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (2011).
