June 13, 2014

A Tribe Called Quest "Midnight Marauders" (The Source, 1993)


"With their third album, Midnight Marauders, Quest do what they've always done - ignore all of the current trends in hip-hop and deliver a solid collectable. The one song that comes close to looking gangsta in print, "Sucka N!gga," is actually more about Tip's ambivalence over the word than bitchasses ... This non-blunt-smoking, gun-toting, bitch-beating trio rely solely on their street poetry, Zulu delivery and be-bop beats to get you up off your ass and into the record store. Phife, who won "most improved MC" a couple years back with "Butter," seems to rock it better when he shares the mic with Tip this time out then on his solo joint, "8 Million Stories" ... They get open with special guest Large Professor on "The Chase Part II," a freestyle jam that jacks Biz's classic "Nobody Beats The Biz." And the title track picks up where "Everything Is Fair" left off, describing ghetto nights in abstract detail instead of booming cliches ... And "Electric Relaxation," a fly love / sex song, and "Clap Your Hands" are two more reasons why Tip is one of the premiere poets of our generation. The only thing missing are the surprises, which leaves me to imagine how Quest would've sounded had MC Hood ("Scenario") lived to get down this time around (R.I.P.)..." Ultimately, "Midnight Marauders is exactly what we were hoping for." - The Source, 12/93. Revisit the album below...


You can check out the full review by Dream Hampton in The Source, below...