From time to time, I will set a theme for a series of SotDs that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much material I wish to cover. This week's theme will be rap songs!
I am not really a fan of rap. I find too much of it to be much too concerned with excess and success. However, I am a huge fan of a very specific kind of rap. That kind is largely referred to as underground/indie/alternative rap. The standard of this genre has been set by the likes of Mos Def (Yasiin Bey), Talib Kweli, Jurassic 5, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, and many other similar artists, but it got its start about a decade before these artists rose to prominence. According to my admittedly limited knowledge on the subject, alternative hip-hop first emerged near the end of the 1980s, and was catalyzed by the formation of Native Tongues artists like De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers, and especially A Tribe Called Quest.
I first learned about Tribe while searching for rap with laidback, jazzy beats. This search began after hearing Lupe Fiasco's "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)," which features a prominent saxophone in the background, and especially after hearing Lupe's "Life, Death, and Love from San Francisco," on which he raps directly over a portion of Coltrane's seminal 1965 album A Love Supreme. The discovery of the jazz rap genre immediately led to A Tribe Called Quest's second album, The Low End Theory, released in 1991, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.
In short, The Low End Theory is incredible and truly unique. Whereas most of rap is loud and showy, this album is largely quiet and subtly confident. The group, featuring rappers Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, place socially conscious and consciously meaningful lyrics over the background of minimal smooth jazz beats. And, really, I think we can all agree there's not much that's cooler than jazz bass.
The album's opening track, "Excursions," begins with a lone bass line bouncing around a few notes, soon followed by Q-Tip coolly pontificating on the cyclical nature of musical trends. After the first eight lines of the song, the drums finally come in, giving us the first taste of the album's signature sound. It is one of the coolest introductions of any album, rap or otherwise, and lets you know you're in for something really special. Later in the song, a saxophone begins playing in the background, mirroring the bassline with a short, simple, repeating riff, but the song, and most of the ones that followed, remains largely minimalist.
A Tribe Called Quest would go on to follow this album with the brilliant Midnight Marauders two years later. Although this album's title may suggest it continues with the same late-night jazz feel, Marauders is a little louder, more experimental, and more versatile, but nearly equals its predecessor in terms of quality. But The Low End Theory takes the cake here due to its undeniable influence on socially conscious and alternative rap. Throughout the week, we will explore albums and artists that continue to give hip-hop relevance in the face of the genre's mainstream incompetence. But for now, introduce (or re-introduce) yourself to the Tribe!
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