Score: 9/10 – Still kicking it.
Just when the world seems to be collapsing around our ears on all sides, everyone’s favourite New York hip-hop collective pop out of retirement and deliver a farewell LP that restores at least a little bit of faith in humanity.
In November last year, A Tribe Called Quest performed on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show. It turned out to be the same night as the Paris attacks, and so feeling “charged” by the tragedy; the group put aside their differences (they officially disbanded in 1998 although continued to tour sporadically), and decided to record what they’ve promised will be their final album in secrecy. The result is an on-point indictment of the state of the times – focusing frequently on a certain controversial floppy-haired president elect. “All you Black folks, you must go/All you Mexicans, you must go/And all you poor folks, you must go/Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways,” paraphrases Q-Tip satirically on “We The People…” Surprisingly, further down the line, closing track “The Donald” turns out to be not about Trump, but actually is a tribute to original Tribe member Phife Dog, who sadly passed away earlier this year at the young age of 45 during the recording of We Got It From Here…
Devastated by the loss of their long-time brother, Tip, Jarobi and Ali found solace in continuing to work on the album, undoubtedly bolstered by securing what has to be the one of the greatest guest artist lineups of any album in recent memory. Listen for appearances from André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, Elton John, Kanye West, Anderson Paak, Talib Kweli, and the group’s most frequent collaborators Consequence and Busta Rhymes – all of whom bring their A-game to proceedings.
Saying an album will be your last – particularly from a group with as much significance as ATCQ, is a risky business, but We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service is a fitting swan song that not only honours Phife’s legacy, but also furthers their own iconic status.
Dan Ashcroft
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