The Love Movement

Ever since I started listening to A Tribe Called Quest seriously, they’ve been one of my all-time favorite hip hop bands. Their first three records are pure gold and I wouldn’t skip any song. The Love Movement is their fifth LP, originally released in 1998, and while it is still a really good record, for me it’s a rung below the first three records. There are also too many songs for one album, so it’s a hard listen to begin with. Still, there are some great tracks on The Love Movement.

Latest Repress on Black on Jive /???

The Quest

A Tribe Called Quest has become one of my favorite hip hop bands over the last lets say one and a half years. I didn’t realise how many of their songs I had already known from movies, skateboard videos or video games. So one of the tasks I set for myself for 2024 was to get as many of their LPs as possible. Beats, Rhymes and Life is their fourth album, originally released in 1996. I was really looking forward to listening to ‘new‘ material of theirs, but the pressing of this album is horrible. In a recent post I wrote that I don‘t really care about audio quality, so for me to complain about that means something. I checked my equipment, the needle, the speakers, I listened to other records on that record player, I listened to this record on my other records player - to no avail. So I might have to start looking for another pressing because the songs I heard I really liked. 

202X Repress on Black on Jive 

The Low End?

Lately, I’ve been listening to the A Tribe Called Quest records I already own, Midnight Merauders and People’s Instinctive Travels a lot. So much that I figured I finally need to pick up their other LPs. I don’t remember exactly why I picked up their first and third LP, but I think I already knew at least one song on each record and that was the criterion for buying. Anyway, I decided to fill that ugly gap between first and third album by buying The Low End Theory. I’ve often read that this record is considered the band’s masterpiece. I probably haven’t listened to this LP enough, especially compared to the other two I own, but right now I wouldn’t pick this above either one of the other two. Having said that, this is still an incredible record. I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of their catalogue. 

Latest Repress (?) on Black on Jive Records