The 30 Greatest A Tribe Called Quest Songs Part II

Greetings ZS Music Blog faithful. My name is @Mallz and I'll be your guest-blogger for this drop. If you know me or have had any hip-hop conversation with me then you'll know that I consider A Tribe Called Quest one of the greatest groups of all time. In celebration of their complete dopeness, I've compiled a list of 30 of their greatest songs.

With five albums, an anthology and a few compilations under their belts, it wasn't difficult to find great songs, the hardest part was putting them in order because one of the things that make Tribe so dope is their consistency. When I was thinking about putting the list together, I jokingly thought to just give the tracklisting for Midnight Marauders and call it a day but that wouldn't be fair to their other classic albums (yes, classic). So here goes, 30 of the best songs from A Tribe Called Quest. Feel free to disagree, debate and/or list some that I may have omitted.

Previously: The 30 Greatest A Tribe Called Quest Songs Part I

#20 I Left My Wallet In El Segundo (from People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, 1990)
Tribe's third single from their first album offers Q-Tip's adventures on a trip to Mexico with his DJ, Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The opening bars from the Chambers Brothers' jam, "Funky" provided the backdrop for this lighthearted yet smooth track while Q-Tip spit his descriptive narrative. It's amazing how they drove to Mexico, ate and drove back with just $200. Can you imagine driving from Queens to El Segundo with today's gas prices? Fuckin' yikes, yo!



#19 Jazz [We've Got] (The Low End Theory, 1991)
The B-side of the "Check The Rhime" single is actually a Pete Rock beat that was re-made by Q-Tip. A lot of groups have merged hip hop and jazz but no one has done it as well as the Native Tongues' questers. Again, they've never been super lyrical but their rhymes just work so well that it didn't matter. Tip summed it up perfectly when he said "So low-key that you probably missed it." It's been 19 years, hopefully if you missed it back then you caught on soon after.



#18 8 Million Stories (Midnight Marauders, 1993)
"And oh shit! Skeff Anslem, he gets props too!" The Phife solo track has always been one of my personal favorites. Skeff Anslem provided the soundscapes for this tale of what could possibly the worst day in the history of niggardom. The gloomy bassline and hard hitting drums ensure the heavy nod-factor as Phife Dawg gets robbed while trying to get some ice cream, burns his clothes with the iron, disappoints his little brother who just wanted a damn Barney doll, gets stood up by one girl then gets a um..."cherry surprise" from another girl while going downtown...and that's just the first verse!


#17 Sucka Nigga (Midnight Marauders, 1993)
Another Q-Tip solo makes the list, folks. I mean, how hard could it be with as much mic time as he's had on the Tribe albums. I remember when I'd play this track around my friends, no one else liked it because Q-Tip just did the same verse two times but I didn't care what they said, I thought it was fly. Mostly, I loved the Freddie Hubbard sample used while Tip defended the use of the word 'nigga' in hip hop despite the fact that he "starts to flinch" as he tries not to say it. I don't remember too much hoopla over the use of the word back then but this joint has found some new relevance in the past few years with the so-called death of the nigga.


#16 Buggin' Out (The Low End Theory, 1991)
I love how Phife starts this off, kicking in the door with the "roughneck business." Tribe was never known for their anti-establishment themes like say a Public Enemy or Paris but they took a few shots at Arsenio and R&B in this joint. You gotta love the simplicity of the beat: bassline and drums - low end, indeed. "Hip hop is living; can't yank the plug. If you do the result, will end up kinda bugged." Tell 'em Phife!


#15 Find A Way (The Love Movement, 1998)
I didn't have cable, growing up but somehow I managed to see this video and I thought it was dope. I always dug the Towa Tei inspired chorus (check out "Technova" for that hook) and how it played off of the bouncy Jay Dee/The Ummah production. Fellas, we've all been there. You see a chick giving you the eye and leading you on only to have a sudden change of heart just when you're about to put your game down quite flat. Messing me up, my whole head.


#14 Luck Of Lucien (from People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, 1990)
This beat has always been one of my favorites out of all the jazzy vibes Tribe has given us over the years. The bass groove of this Billy Brooks sampled head-nodder has been resurrected in joints by Styles P and Talib Kweli but ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby. On track two of Tribe's classic debut album, Q-Tip rhymed about a naive Parisian brother who has a rough time adjusting to life in the U.S. but gets some good advice from The Abstract along the way. When nine year old Mallz first heard this song I was captivated with Tip's effortless flow as well as those cool ass horns in the chorus. This joint also taught me what escargot was. "Yo Tip, what's wrong with snails?"


#13 Oh My God (Midnight Marauders, 1993)
The third single from the Midnight Marauders album is simple yet effective with hard hitting drums and bouncy bassline for the verses and blaring horns during the chorus which matches perfectly with Busta Rhymes' vocals. One of my favorite things about Tribe was their consistency. Even though each album was sonically different, their lyrics were always dope without overshadowing the production. If you can listen to this without nodding your head then I'm pretty sure you have no soul.



#12 Butter (The Low End Theory, 1991)
Another Phife solo makes my list and since he didn't have very many he definitely made them count. This song has had a huge influence on me when it comes to how I feel about some women thinking they need fake nails, color contacts, etc. Of course, at 10 years old that didn't apply to the little girls I was chasing so I just considered it one to grow on (no UMCs-o). This was actually the first song I learned word-for-word from this album. Usually it's the vibe of ATCQ songs that get me hooked but in this case it was Phife spitting pure, unadulterated churchery particularly the second verse.


#11 Show Business (The Low End Theory, 1991)
Trivia time ladies and gents: This joint was originally called "Georgie Porgie" and featured the whole Brand Nubian crew but was scrapped by the label for being too risque because it was about a young brother who decided to um...cross over to the penis loving side. Grand Puba wasn't feeling having to do his verse over so that's why he's not on the album version and is replaced by Diamond D. This is another Skeff Anslem produced track; it sounds more b-boyish than most of the other songs on the album but it still fits perfectly.


Part 3 is tomorrow. Leave comments!