By JASON CARPENTER

The disbanding of hip hop's largest and most respected Tribe earlier this year left a void in the souls of many fans as well a as a gaping cavern in the rap industry. The subtle rasp of Q-Tip's voice, so smooth it could talk the Virgin Mary into the sack, combined with Phife Dog's crass lyrical wizardry and Ali on the turntables will be sorely missed.
The trio's farewell album was released in early 1999, with mixed results, and apparently that wasn't how Tribe was going out. So for a final kick in the balls at how sorely this band will be missed and to highlight the group's contribution to hip-hop as we now know it, Jive records released A Tribe Called Quest/Anthology in the fall.
And yes, the shit brings a tear to the true fan's eye.
Opening up with "Check the Rhyme", from Tribe's 1991 album, The Low End Theory, Phife puts it right to the nostalgic listener, almost as if to taunt us poor bastards, "Now here's a funky introduction of just how nice I am." No shit. Still, the song carries as much weight in 2000 as it did ten years ago with its mesmerizing beats and stripped down lyrics.
The smooth beats of Bonita Applebum, from the 1990 Album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, bring us into that jazz/rap orgasm that only Q-Tip can bring on. With the subtle jazz guitar riffs floating throughout the jam, Q-Tip straight out tells his woman, "I'll be kissing you where other brothers don't."
In Award Tour, the best joint on Tribe's 1993 Midnight Marauders album, the crew shows how to bring it back that old New York rap, like Boogie Down Productions before them. The crisp high hat over the boom-bap beat coupled with the balsy lyrics about giving music awards the middle finger makes you wonder who the hell will ever be so true to the game, yet accepted and respected by the mainstream.
With a backdrop of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," Phife Dog and Q-Tip drop shit like a waitress in training in "Can I Kick It" from People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. The two exchange a steady stream of silly lyrics over vintage old school scratching dub-dub-dubs, while drawn-out breakdowns of the kick and snare drums provide perfect interludes to bust a move. Tip captures the soul of this jam right in the lyrics, "Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz/Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug."
I was so relieved to find out Tribe included "Oh My God," also from Midnight Marauders. Shit, that jam is smoother than a baby's ass, with a contagious head-bobbing beat and the beautiful, yet subtle crackle of a needle spinning vinyl in the background. Phife breaks it down for the sucka MC's, warning that he's still on top of the game. "You know the style Tip/it's time to flip this/I like my beats hard like two day old shit/steady eatin booty MC's like cheese Grits." Tip lets the world know exactly where he stands, too, saying, "Complimentary it be/the thief of Poetry."
In all, Anthology portrays the essence of a crew that took intellectual rap and positive jams to a new level, a crew that came off looking just as cool performing on the Nickelodeon Network as they do breakin' down MC's on a street corner in Queens. There are a few joints I would have liked to see on the record like "Ham n' Eggs" and what's up with leaving smooth like "Butter" off the album? These could have easily taken the place of "If the Papes Come" or "Electric Relaxation". But in a sky full of stars, they can't all shine bright, right? Tribe, you'll be often imitated, but never duplicated.

To be published in January 2000 issue of Yellow Rat Bastard