Reacting to 'The Low End Theory' by A Tribe Called Quest
Added 2022-09-09 19:24:23 +0000 UTCDirect Play Link: https://iframe.mediadelivery.net/play/27377/7e1947b3-2155-4971-9e87-c33ee28009f1
Just a sliver under 2hr and 10mins on this one. Enjoy!
Comments
If you want to explore the 80s, I lived that era but this top 50 list is a good one to find your next candidate https://amp.www.complex.com/music/50-greatest-rap-albums-1980s/
Eric Beehler
2022-09-20 13:25:53 +0000 UTCI think it actually expresses the frustration of young men in that situation. The theming is all of over the place on that one. But we were really just starting to talk about it. Previous to that it was always getting attacked by a stranger in an alley. Recognizing being someone who could actually be the instigator who never intended that was revelation for a lot of men. I’m sure that track would had very different lyrics if made a decade later. As far as that track, I forgot that it was right before Check the Rhime which is an amazing track. As far who are all these people, find “Buddy (remix)” on YouTube. It features the Native Tounges.
Eric Beehler
2022-09-20 12:48:59 +0000 UTCI had the same reaction to you to Classic Example…
Eric Beehler
2022-09-20 12:42:44 +0000 UTCI love all tribe albums and when I show people they do give that same reaction it’s “basic” but I take that as it being more “textbook hip hop” like the bass line the drums the sample/beat and flow is definition of hip hop . Q Tip is wayyy underrated
Granados
2022-09-15 21:48:08 +0000 UTC+1 we got it from here....
bo jackson
2022-09-14 13:58:34 +0000 UTCI would recommend spending 90 minutes to catch their infamous documentary "Beats, Rhymes and Life". It was made by Micheal Rappaport and loads of people dont like it for showing Tribe for what they are and showing how difficult it is to keep a band going for so long. Its an intimate portrayal of the break up Phife Dawgs health issues and 20 years of pent up issues combined with some of the best music and concert footage you can ever see.
Boyan Konov
2022-09-13 08:57:47 +0000 UTCwe got it from here (their 2016 comeback album after an 18 year hiatus) is my personal favorite of theirs. it is by far the greatest comeback album in the history of hip hop and a beautiful tribute to phife dawg who passed away in the same year. if theres another tribe album i recommend its that, and of course midnight marauders, which is better than low end theory in pretty much every way. cleaner, upbeat, and hi-fi production, rapping, lyricism, chemistry between tip and phife, features, more consistent tracklist... its excellent and deserves all the praise it gets!
Ugo Nwigwe
2022-09-11 18:51:00 +0000 UTCI would really love a Busta Rhymes album reaction at some point!
Jakob Roloff
2022-09-11 14:25:20 +0000 UTCI don't have time to post videos or even watch your reactions right now but I promise I will get caught up don't worry please do not wake up in a cold sweat wondering if I have watched your videos or not it's not that serious.
Dylan Woods
2022-09-11 05:07:57 +0000 UTCBob, I highly recommend that you check out this Q-Tip interview by Red Bull - bit.ly/3L2n25A - It's pretty long, but at the 35:30 min mark, he discusses his production process for The Low End Theory...gives you great insight into one of the great minds of hip-hop!
Will H
2022-09-11 01:53:45 +0000 UTCNWA came out before A Tribe Called Quest, Fuck tha Police was 1988, I think rappers just rapped about money and pagers back in the day so it wasn't really a reference haha, still cool that you picked up on that
Lil Mac
2022-09-11 00:41:51 +0000 UTCAwesome video, I reeeeeeally hope you react to Midnight Marauders, it was released 2 years after this one, and is also regarded as a classic (it's also my personal favorite album of theirs.) ATCQ is my favorite hip-hop group of all time and I think Midnight Marauders and their most recent album are must-listens. Their first album is cool and has some fun singles, but I don't know if I'd consider it a must listen, I would at least suggest you listen to their singles (Can I Kick It, Bonita Applebum, and Left my Wallet in El Segundo specifically) but yeah. If you take anything away from this comment, PLEASE listen to Midnight Marauders one day! (oh and also Buggin' Out is like one of my favorite songs of all time)
Lil Mac
2022-09-11 00:34:13 +0000 UTCThis is my challenge: The Roots - Things Fall Apart
Anthony Almandeto
2022-09-10 23:43:54 +0000 UTCI wished you were able to enjoy this album more Bob. I’ve literally waited months for this review. I hope the experience hasn’t made you want to dismiss Tribe going forward. I hope you give their first and third album a try. They are really good with the first being more artistic and the third having more complex rhymes and beats.
Brandon Williams
2022-09-10 15:59:00 +0000 UTCI have deep thoughts about Infamous Date'R but it's more important to listen to Midnight Marauders and ANYTHING from De La Soul from that era from 'Stakes is High' to 'Buhloone Mindstate". You talked about DNA being formed and this explains some of the social movements going on to this to day. I can always put on 'Scenario", but you need to get weird with some De La.
Anthony Almandeto
2022-09-10 14:01:43 +0000 UTCpurely coincidental, and I didn't even pick up on the source for the sample 🙄 I'm starting to think my brain just doesn't work that way when it comes to recognizing samples. Lyrics I tend to notice often (though I won't always mention it since I don't want to make a connection that doesn't exist)
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:29:22 +0000 UTCI'm glad someone is mentioning that because it's basically my favorite part of the video 😂
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:22:25 +0000 UTCPaid in Full is on the radar 👍
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:19:57 +0000 UTCVery cool!
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:19:02 +0000 UTCThat's pretty wild. I can see that from Kanye for sure, with how he does his rhymes.
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:18:45 +0000 UTCI listened to it this morning. I'm glad it wasn't on the album I reacted to.
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:16:12 +0000 UTChaha
Bob_the_Poppop
2022-09-10 13:15:36 +0000 UTCbob this is pretty much explanation!
Jorge Campos Jr.
2022-09-10 11:44:34 +0000 UTCPretty interesting that you did Never Story last week, since that record samples “Scenario” off of this album
VeganMilk
2022-09-10 08:09:28 +0000 UTCAs far as ‘Infamous Date Rape’ goes, you gotta understand the culture. Historically Black men have been falsely accused of rape and have been lynched and falsely incarcerated over it. Emmett Till was lynched at age 14 for whistling at a white woman. The Tulsa race riots were over a black man accused of assaulting a white woman on an elevator. At the time Mike Tyson was just convicted of rape, and was viewed by many in the black community as being falsely accused of rape by a black woman. So Phife’s verse reflects that mind set by many black males in this country. Q-Tips first verse was warning men not to force something when the vibe is off, and to let it go. His second verse is mocking a man that has such a huge ego, that he thinks the only reason why a woman would deny him sex is because, she must be on her period. You can tell by how he raps this verse sarcastically. I give credit to Tribe for even bringing up and addressing such a controversial topic, that’s still to this day, very controversial. They give balance to both sides warning men to have self control and not to force it, and also expressing that some women lie (especially about black men) just Google how many black men recently have been exonerated of rape charges with DNA evidence.
Brandon Williams
2022-09-10 04:32:50 +0000 UTCI would love to see you react to Midnight Marauders some day, I find its much more interesting and shows lots of progress in their creativity.
Ben Gould
2022-09-10 03:49:45 +0000 UTCThe Anthology and Midnight Marauders are both classic albums from them if you like the sound. Glad you finally got around to these guys, definitely one of my all time favorite groups. Their latest release, We got it from here Thank you is their best album imo and it just came out a few years back. I don't usually like new projects released by older groups/rappers but they did an amazing job. RIP Phife Dawg
Henry
2022-09-10 01:31:13 +0000 UTCIt was also because Ron Carter said he wouldn't record his basslines for Verses From The Abstract if the album was going to be full of curses.
Will H
2022-09-10 00:53:52 +0000 UTCThis album is nice but honestly their greatest work is their most recent album. Hope you skip to that one next.
CRASH
2022-09-10 00:30:23 +0000 UTCTrack 8 is, I think, known as a rough song in hindsight, and I wanna say someone in the group apologized for its insensitivity. (Or was that another track? I don't remember.) I felt Phife Dawg's lines in particular were generally more suspect than Q-Tip's, though I couldn't tell if he was purposely speaking from the perspective of an inconsiderate guy. But overall, this video was great. I'd never heard this album before, though I'd always see it mentioned as an all-timer. I don't really share that evaluation, but maybe that's because I'm more deeply involved with a different album of the era, 3 Feet High and Rising. The artists Tribe big-upped in "Jazz" might be a who's-who of artists Bob will eventually check out. Like Bob, I had that "Oh, that comes from this?" moment a few times with this album. ("Who's that? Brooooown!") Truly foundational, even though I don't think it's consistently all that stellar. I can hear Tip and Phife straining against the limits of line, stretching words and pausing to fill time properly (something rappers still do to this day). You know who didn't struggle with bars? Big Daddy Kane. (See his 1991 song "Nuff Respect.") I loved "What?" Just a fun little abstract tune. Non-sequiturs galore. The song is both about nothing and about essence. What is the essence of that song? What. But yeah, this links to a lot of great artists of the time: De La Soul, Busta Rhymes... Busta has great singles across eras. Does he have great albums? I have no idea! But he's fun. Most anything you pick should be at least enjoyable, right?
Dareka
2022-09-10 00:16:49 +0000 UTCahh to relive hearing Buggin Out for the first time.. i am envious
Alec Fields
2022-09-09 21:41:13 +0000 UTCIf it’s not on the list already please react to Ridin Dirty by UGK. Top 10 rap album ever and that Bun B verse on murder is a contender for the beat verse EVER. Soooo dope
NiFr
2022-09-09 21:12:55 +0000 UTCIf you love Scenario, i feel like Midnight Marauders really follows that positive high energy that that song has.
Antonio
2022-09-09 20:36:27 +0000 UTCAlso JID sampled Scenario on EdEddnEddy
Eric Johansson
2022-09-09 20:34:04 +0000 UTC"Just picture me with hair and no beard." "FUCK NO." Bro I died crying when he said that.
Eric Johansson
2022-09-09 20:31:30 +0000 UTCYes!!! RIP Phife Dawg
Patre
2022-09-09 20:30:36 +0000 UTCfully agree with this. Well intentioned, not executed very well. i think the song really needs a third verse from a female rapper, and Native Tongues had a few so it’s a shame they didn’t do that. it’s a very early attempt to address an issue that they weren’t fully equipped to talk about, as much as I love Tip and Phife. ALSO really hoping he does Marauders, because i’ve always loved it more and it is closer to the positivity that they had on their first album
Antonio
2022-09-09 20:21:26 +0000 UTCI get how uncomfortable The Infamous Date Rape can be - at the time it was novel and celebrated simply just for touching on the subject that wasn't really even part of the lexicon of the time - date rape was a fancy new term for "those women that sleep around and then get mad about it later" according to a lot of people back then (there's still dickheads like this out there unfortunately) so for modern musicians to even address it as a thing was big. Ultimately I think what Tribe was trying to do was illustrate the mindframe of these guys out there as a cautionary tale to men - they're saying "You think you're not doing anything wrong, you're just trying to figure out her signals, you're trying to figure out if she wants to smash and is just playing coy versus if she actually doesn't and you're not getting the hint. And we empathize with that position, it can be confusing, but at the end of the day no matter what you feel about it, if you force the issue it's still a classic example of a date rape." Unfortunately, while Q-Tip and Phife Dawg are socially conscious and fun rappers, they were never the most eloquent. They don't have the greatest vocabularies and they were never the greatest storytellers, so I think what should have come off as a caution to young men to re-think their private interactions with women instead sounds like a muddled message that possibly bemoans date rape but also possibly (and accidentally) ends up trying to excuse it. It's less a situation of bad intent and more an example of bad execution. Shifting gears here in case you ever get the nerve up to keep listening to Tribe, whose jazz-infused and socially conscious meanderings were a very revolutionary thing in hip-hop at the time, you'll find Midnight Marauders to both be even easier to listen to as well as also very sonically updated - I think MM sounds fresh even today in some ways. It's happier, more celebratory.
Xavvi
2022-09-09 20:09:16 +0000 UTCbeats rhymes & life is worth the listen imo. the love movement has some of my fave tribe songs but i would only recommend checking it out only if he ends up loving Tribe immensely lol.
snooza
2022-09-09 19:53:48 +0000 UTC- Q-Tip is considered by many to be the greatest rapper/producer ever (aka a rapper that also produces) -definitely do check out the rest of their discography. their most recent album from 2016 is top tier and among their best, but definitely check out all their albums in order eventually. you will hear their style progress throughout the 90's as they evolve with hip hop. - a lot of this album has not aged well tbh (The Infamous Date Rape...) but luckily their later albums (especially their 2016 album) are a bit more... wise? drawing a blank on the word that i should be using. - N.W.A. was before A Tribe Called Quest but not by a lot... but at the end of the day they're basically the same era. Q-Tip has said that Straight Outta compton was an inspiration for this album. - have people been recommending Busta Rhymes? Do "The Coming"! such a classic. can't go wrong with his albums after too but The Coming is his debut so it's a good starting place. - for 80's hip hop i recommend Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown and Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full
snooza
2022-09-09 19:46:25 +0000 UTCOh my,I listened to this when I was a teenager daily...
Daniel Szepfalusi
2022-09-09 19:42:25 +0000 UTCQ-tip recently produced the majority of the last Danny Brown album
Joshua Doty
2022-09-09 19:36:45 +0000 UTCThis along with Nevermind by Nirvana are two albums that released on my birthday, September 24th, I listen to them both every birthday of mine, excited for this reaction!
six
2022-09-09 19:35:34 +0000 UTCIf I remember correctly, at one point Pharrell said that Q-Tip was the model that he, J Dilla, and Kanye took much of their inspiration from. To be regarded as influential by three of the GOATS is insane, but absolutely deserved.
Callie D
2022-09-09 19:32:44 +0000 UTCFor some context, every track will say produced by ATCQ but all production is primarily handled by Q-Tip, with some additional prod by Ali Shaheed Muhammed, the DJ of the group. The album is censored because a lot of artists only allowed tribe to use samples if they took at the swears of most of the songs. It doesn't effect the experience a ton because Tribe doesn't really swear a ton.
Antonio
2022-09-09 19:31:53 +0000 UTCYESSSSSSSSS I'm so hyped for this, really hope it leads to the rest of the discog (minus beats rhymes and life + love movement, bc i know people don't care about them), but i am so so so excited
Antonio
2022-09-09 19:29:14 +0000 UTCWas just listening to Jazz(We’ve Got). When I got the noti. Best Tribe song imo !
Bryan Torres
2022-09-09 19:29:12 +0000 UTCIs this the Georgie Porgie version? Nah. Love this album and Tribe in general (their last album is their best imo), but that song is absolutely wild.
Alex VonBerg
2022-09-09 19:27:59 +0000 UTCEEEEEEEYEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSSSSSSS
Josh
2022-09-09 19:27:21 +0000 UTCrip phife dawg
Vervanta
2022-09-09 19:27:05 +0000 UTCoh shiiiiiiittttt
SAM-WISE GAMGEE
2022-09-09 19:26:55 +0000 UTCim pogging
Jordan Lee
2022-09-09 19:26:25 +0000 UTCseeing this notification almost made me shed a tear
Teeeeeson
2022-09-09 19:26:03 +0000 UTCSo whats the scenario
あすなSwag
2022-09-09 19:26:02 +0000 UTCIncredible album RIP Phife
Joshua Doty
2022-09-09 19:25:59 +0000 UTCLETS FUCJING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
rxresodx
2022-09-09 19:25:55 +0000 UTCLET’S GOOOOO
Vervanta
2022-09-09 19:25:53 +0000 UTC
