"Damn, we ain't prophets/And if you think so, you need to stop it." A Tribe Called Quest launch that fiery verbal projectile in "Get a Hold," a slamming, paradox-driven track from the group's near-flawless fourth album, Beats, Rhymes and Life. A denial that serves as confirmation, the couplet snaps and frames the essence of this collection: selfless social commentary sneaked in between immodest claims to greatness.
Beats, Rhymes and Life is laced with a thread of allegory that runs through one song and is picked up in the next. For example, the chorus of "Motivators" ("We be the No. 1 motivators/Ghetto mentality and innovators") is echoed in "The Hop" ("Just a ghetto child trying to live a straight and narrow/Hopin' that my shit will pierce your dome like an arrow"). In both tracks, Tribe fold their own mythology into the daily struggles of ordinary black folk, lifting their fans as they lift themselves.
The minimalist, funky, guitar-driven "Keep It Movin' " and the crunching "What Really Goes On" lay waste to silly East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop rivalries; the breezy groove of "Mind Power" has an ass-swaying undertow that makes you forget that its message is also good for you; and the layered images of "Jam" smoothly unfold into an intoxicating short story about a lazy day filled with first-time blunts, parties and a good time that comes to a bad head. In "Crew," an album highlight, the burst of gunfire that ends the haunting tale of betrayal among friends is masterful, scoring an unexpectedly emotional bull's eye.
Tribe make it look easy. Their rhymes are simple, not simple-minded, a distinction not many other bands can make. And while Tribe resist easy hooks, their blend of jazz, funk and R&B is itself irresistible. The honeyed female vocals in "1nce Again" and "Stressed Out" are an essential part of the mix, not just a commercial concession.
Spinning universal themes from an Afrocentric loom, with positivity balanced against subtly subversive street reporting. A Tribe Called Quest have managed to drag themselves out of the margins of hip-hop, where "nice" rappers are given polite props from folk who never really liked hip-hop in the first place. -Ernest Hardy (Rolling Stones)
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A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes and Life LP
