The Anthology - Tribe Called Quest (A) (CD 1999)

Way back in the day, De La Soul released themselves an album called "3 Ft. High and Rising", which spurned the single "Me Myself & I". Here you had an off-beat hip-hop track that stunned many people, and included the brief lines:

"...People think they diss my person/
By stating I'm darkly packed/
I know this, so I point at Q-Tip/
And he states, "Black is black."..."

With that, the rap audience was introduced to Q-Tip, one of the founding members of Tribe Called Quest, and also a component of "the Native Tongue", a group that consisted of Tribe, De La Soul, Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers, and many others.

Tribe released five albums over time: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm; The Low-End Theory; Midnight Marauders; Beats, Rhymes and Life; and The Love Movement.
The first three albums were phenomenal, different, and had major impact on the way hip-hop was performed. Here was a group consisting of the aforementioned Q-Tip, Phife, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, ripping out well-executed rhymes in a laid-back manner - which was a departure from the majority of what was available in those earlier days.

(Sidenote: "The Low-End Theory" and "Midnight Marauders" both are All Music Guide's "Best of Genre" choices, giving you an idea that they are musically acclaimed releases.)

After "The Love Movement", the band moved on in their own directions - Phife and Q-Tip to both release solo albums, and Ali to found the act Lucy Pearl.

As an afterthought to the music they created, "Anthology" was released. And although the intent is to showcase the greatest hits of this group, there's misses as well.

The first six tracks on this album are winners. "Check The Rhime" showcases the back-and-forth between Q-Tip and Phife, and then segues into "Bonita Applebum", the song of yore about that pretty lady on the street that everyone wants to get with. (This was also back in the day when the word "prophylactics" would be censored on radio, before the pro-knowledge campaigns about AIDS began.)

We then move into "Award Tour", with chorus by De La Soul, and "Can I Kick It?", the classic track off the first album with background music courtesy of the Lou Reed tune "Walk on the Wild Side". From there, Tribe displays it's penchant for the "posse track" with "Scenario", the rousing tune featuring Leaders Of The New School (well before Busta Rhymes went solo).

I do wonder, though, why the version of "Scenario" that featured one other rapper wasn't released. There was a different version that contained the rhymes of one artist who was later slain; I unfortunately don't recall his name, but it would have made for an interesting addition.

Then comes "Buggin Out", a spastic track which was eventually paired with an even crazier video featuring the members rapping with what I can only describe as "Simpson eyes", referencing the cartoon.

From here, "Anthology" seems to dance back and forth between lesser-hyped tunes and the occasional hit. The necessary "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo" is here, but "Stressed Out" with Faith Evans? What happened to the sentiment of:

"I know I'll be the man if I cold yank the plug/
On R & B, but I can't, and that's bug."

What happened? The R & B vibe creeps in on "Find A Way" off "The Love Movement", and it's depressing. This isn't the Tribe we wanted! I wonder if the people who compiled this figured it should be more of a diverse listing than their better tracks.

What's even more confusing is that the final track, "Vivrant Thing", isn't even a Tribe track. It's a solo joint from Q-Tip off his solo album, "Amplified". What happened here? Where's anything off of Phife's album? Especially with what seems to be slight rifts between Phife and Q-Tip at this point, would it make sense to throw a solo track at the end? I'd think not.

The majority of this cd is good. Tribe Called Quest was notorious for incorporating jazz samples and excellent drum tracks into their songs, and this cd proves that. However, some of the selections just don't do it, and you may very well find yourself forwarding ahead.

On a personal note, I would have thrown in tracks like "Pubic Enemy" off of "People's Instictive..."; that alone would have been a great replacement for "Vivrant Thing".