Is Tribe Called Quest’s new album a classic? Is it underwhelming? The best response is, Who Cares?
Being overly critical about the new Tribe Called Quest album, scrutinizing it at every turn makes me reevaluate what made an album “a classic” in the first place. Most albums that we consider classic have little to do with the music, and everything to do with the timing, both where you are in life, where the artist is, where the state of music is, where the state of the world is. Looking back on this moment when the Tribe album dropped, we will consider so many factors surrounding it, from Trump, to the passing of Phife, to the revitalization of Goldenage Hip Hop (if you want to take it there), to the full circle and reemergence of Jarobi, to the collaborations in an era where those are seldom seen in Hip Hop, especially among heavyweights, to Chapelle pretty much coming out of exile to help support them, to whatever else is surrounding this project you can think of that I cannot.
What made Marvin’s “What’s Going On” album so great was it being motivated by the social climate, coming from a soul/pop R&B singer. What made “Illmatic” great was Nas, who was touted as the next torch-bearer for Hip Hop, was expressing his life up to that point, and the then-superproducers were there to hold him down. Think about where YOU were in your life when “Midnight Marauders” dropped and what specifically makes it special, or for any so-called “classic album” for that matter. To me, it’s about the moment, more than the music itself, and this moment in which Tribe is dropping this album is truly a special one, and the raw emotion that I have had throughout this time will not be overlooked.
