Midnight Marauders - Tribe Called Quest (A) (CD 1993)

I got this album a few years ago. It is a classic from the tribe, their third effort that followed on from the success of People s instinctive travels and The Low End Theory. It was the first Tribe called Quest album I bought and it left me hungry for more. Consisting of Ali Muhammed, Phife Dawg and Q-tip this 3 man group from Queens NY grew up together and first started making music together at high school. As members of the Zulu Nation they took hip-hop into a totally new dimension, their music has a strong jazz influence and the 2 MCs phife and tip complement each other very well. Released in 1993, Midnight Marauders was in my opinion their best effort. Although I love The Low End theory almost as much.


The album starts off with an intro called the Midnight Marauders tour guide. It features a synthesized voice of a lady talking to the listener, and this robotic voice appears throughout the album. I would definitely prefer if the voice was not featured on the album but it only appears for a short time and doesn t get too annoying. However it is a distinct negative to the Midnight.

Track 2 Steve Biko (stir it up) starts with a mellow trumpet that reappears in the middle of the track and in really like it, shame it wasn t used a bit more maybe, but that could have killed it. The verses feature a basic drum beat with some effects and a repeated sound, a single note, from a keyboard, very soothing and relaxing. Phife and Tip trade verses and the varied hook about representing is catchy and flows well with the verses. Steve Biko, by the way, was the founder of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa, a martyr who died over 25 years ago.

Award Tour was released as a single and it features Dove of De La Soul on the hook. The up-tempo beat with a simple kick and some jazzy effects from a keyboard is outstanding. The chorus brings a synthesized trumpet sound and is a series of different shouts to different places around the world and is refreshingly different to the traditional shouts. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album, I love the jazzy sound and the lyrics match the production. Here some of Phife s witty lines

Comin with more hits than the Braves and the Yankees
Livin mad phat like an over sized Bam-bi
The wackest crews try to dis, it makes me laugh
When my track record's longer than a DC-20 aircraft

Phife does all the verses on 8 million stories, a series of different stories about his problems. At first listen the track doesn t have as good production from Ali Muhammed as the first 2 tracks but Phife does a great job of riding the beat although something is missing. Q-tip does the hook and some other speaking on the track but it is one of my least favorite tracks from the album.

Sucka N*gga sees Tip on the mic explaining the use of the racist term n*gga in American society, a great message but Tip does seem to have double standards as he uses the word in other tracks. The production is back to Ali Muhammed s typical style, jazzy keyboard sounds, some scratching and a good beat. The one downside is that tip repeats the first verse, and I honestly have no idea why this was done other than it may have been repeated in order to emphasize the message. 1 line that seems to always stick in my mind
my style is kinda fat, reminiscent of a whale

Track 6 called Midnight is a Q-Tip only track again and his flow is perfect for the running beat and smooth melody. I love the lyrics, socially conscious rhyming about a story. Here s a clip of the first of the 2 verse
See, Jake be gettin illy when the sun get dark
They be comin out the heads, but sh*t don't let me start
Their activities are plenty in nighttime(nighttime)
For the ghetto child, it seems to be the right time
See, kids be gettin stuck with jewels and fly gimmicks
Shorty see the action and then start to mimic
Runnin to the corner, the dice game is blazin
Lookin at the loot, it seems so amazin
Puts it short down, to be exact would bound
He shakes the stones in his hand, then he lets it down(uh!)
Scam money don't make none
He threw a trip on the ace, now he's out son
Hits the local bodega to woof down a hero
Son is on a 'Midnight Run' like De Niro


We Can Get Down sees Phife and Tip back to exchanging verses. This is a feel good backing with a sample of Rakim saying why waste time on the microphone in the background on the hook. I love the melody and the beat, again great production, so typical of a tribe called quest. Phife and Tip emcee about different subjects but mostly about hip-hop, they also seem to be having fun when they drop their lyrics.

Track 8 is seen by many as the best track from the album by many tribe fans including most of my friends. The name epitomizes the track, the electrical effects are very relaxing. Electrical relaxation also features some of the best lyrics on the album, Phife stands out for me on this one with some diverse flows but Tip is great too and they balance each other excellently. My favorite lyric is a famous one from Phife that has been copied many times

I like em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican and Hatian
name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu Nation

not spectacular lyrics but they are dropped with perfection and you ll know what I mean when u hear it.

Clap your Hands has a constant drum beat but the melody changes within verses which I think is unnecessary, the main melody is great but is spoiled by the second less mellow, kinda mysterious backing. The scratching is effective and the lyrics are decent but this I feel that the production could have been stronger.

My favorite track on the album is called Oh My God. This track features Busta Rhymes on the hook, yes the very same Busta of Scenario fame, who I cant stand anymore (sorry all busta fans but he will never repeat that unbelievable verse on scenario). The saxophone on this track is like aural gold, I wanna move every time I hear it and the gentle bass is perfect for the beat. Look out for Phife s verse on this track too, he comes up with a great flow and some funny lyrics.

The next track is called Keep it Rollin and it features one of my favorite producers, Large Professor. I m unaware as to who produced the track but I assume it is Ali Muhammed from the sound but since Large is largely a producer (excuse the pun) he may have had some input. Large Professor appears on the mic along with Phife and Tip and does a good job. I love the bit when a girls voice on an answer phone speaks during his verse.

Self mission, I had her in the ill position.
Sayin large you s the soul brother that I like to F wit
for the rest of my life (life life) yeah yeah now check the method

Track 12 is called The Chase, part 2 and has Biz Markie on the hook sayin im about to wreck your body and say turn the party out . Phife Dawg does the first verse and I love his line your styles are incomplete, same as Vinny Testaverde it sticks out from the rest of the verse for some reason. Tip does the rest of the track and he flows very well with the old style kick drumbeat and jazz fused melody. At the end of track Tip gives some more shouts to places around the world as in Award Tour.

Before Lyrics to Go the synthesized female voice states that the album is over, although the album is not over, a suggestion that the rest is bonus material. Lyrics to go has Tip on 2 verses and Phife on 1, but they both emcee with a tranquil tone and in time with a very relaxing beat. The sax sound over the hook is excellent but the beat is missing a little something. Tip and Phife freestyle over the backing, the song lacks a theme but I still really like it because it is so soothing.

More freestyling from both the emcees on God Lives Through, that has a remix of the Oh my God chorus. The track is characterized by the clever lyrics from phife and a very lively and entertaining verse from Q-tip. The backing is once again extremely relaxed but this is one of the weaker tracks from the album.

I would urge anyone who has heard a Tribe called Quest and liked them, to buy this album. It is an exceptional example of their work. Fans of jazzy hip-hop will not be disappointed, however fans of "hardcore" hip-hop may not appreciate the album as much.