'Herald' classic - A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders

I was 12 years old, not far off my Hammer adoration period, when I bought A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders, and though I still cannot say what benevolent other-worldly forces brought me from 2 Legit 2 Quit to this 1993 hip-hop classic, I'm very happy they did. When the odd elevator music and computerized "Midnight Marauders Program" first came out of my cassette deck, followed by the horns and static of "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)," I can't say I knew exactly what I was listening to, or even who Biko was. All I knew was that I would never listen to Hammer again.

Eight years later, Midnight Marauders remains an essential in my collection as an ethereal, soothing, and all-around flawless hip-hop record. From the meowing cats in the background of "Steve Biko" to the dipping jazz guitar of "Sucka Nigga," the obscure and interesting samples of DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad pop up from all corners of this record. And as far as emcees go, the sedate, treble-heavy-voiced Q-Tip alongside jumpy Phife Dawg were a great hip-hop odd couple long before Andre 3000 and Big Boi ever graced a microphone. "Electric Relaxation," a song closer to aural sex than anything hip-hop had previously spawned, is just one example of this balance in action—while Tip plays it smooth, Phife spins heads with lines like "My stuff on your couch, now you got Siemens' furniture." Whether it's love, respect ("Award Tour"), or just getting off your ass and dancing ("Oh My God") being demanded of the listener, Phife and Tip's lyrical finesse makes anything hard to deny. In the same year Onyx managed to lend a brief appearance of coolness to shouting lyrics, Phife and Tip kept it lyrically dexterous, so perhaps it's no surprise that Midnight Marauders does not sound dated at all: what was clever is still clever.

This lyrical thoughtfulness extends to the album's solo songs, such as Q-Tip considering the n-word in "Sucka Nigga" and Phife dealing with stress on "8 Million Stories." And though the record's smooth, sedate sound may never cause dance floors to overflow, it's the rare record to which you can fall asleep with a huge grin on your face. Midnight Marauders remains the antidote to abrasive, stupid, and uncreative hip-hop. Thus, it remains the only thing I still own—without shame—from my pre-teen years. (Jive)

—Josh Drimmer

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