The Listening Room

A bit behind on kicking this off this week. I'm not sure if Tribe needs much of an intro here. They were a massively influential group that, for me, served as a musical on ramp into the world of hip-hop. The lyricism is on point. The beats are organic and musical. The production is fire. It was a tough choice between Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders, but had to go with this one with it's more direct jazz influence. Should be a fun spin after Nine Inch Nails. Looking forward to stepping into some groove.

Awwww yeah. I LOVE this album. I'm not even much of a hip-hop head. I have gone through a few moods where it's my genre of choice, but it's not often. But I will ALWAYS have a spot in my heart for ATCQ. Jazz-inspired hip-hop is in my opinion, the pinnacle of the genre. It harkens back to the roots of its culture, it's supremely more interesting, and I've always gravitated to grooves over beats. And there is no shortage of groove in this album. Q Tip is just a master of taking a pretty basic but layered beat, and adding the right samples and tunes to make this goofy, interesting, funky mood that just makes you want to bob your head, move your feet, and sing along. I think its aged better than many of their gangsta counterparts of the era, mainly because of that listenability and entry point for peopl who "like, listen to all music except for rap and techno" or whatever. This is an album so wholly of the times, and yet transcends the sacred timeline, to give a front-to-back rap experience that only ATCQ could (and contiunally would) do

Timeless hip-hop. I'm definitely with @BeachComberRadio on Low End Theory being an on ramp to hip-hop for listeners that may not be into the genre. The easy grooves, positive vibes and traditional instrumentation makes this one hard to deny no matter your preferences.