A Tribe Called Quest's second albums is surprisingly filled with complaints and grievances. You get the feeling they are unhappy with Jive, their record company, and the (sort of) fame they got wasn't all they thought it would be. They address this along with other social issues throughout the album. Tip portrays himself as a young rapper who is overly mistrustful of his record label on the first single, "Check The Rhime". Its a testament to the tipster that is still used for being screwed by a record company today. There's other instances where the tribe is questioning everything around them and attacking the show business as a whole. On these introspective tracks, they reveal the flow of soulful poets deeply in touch with the spirit and soul of hip hop, but the fun loving and up beat tracks are still there, making for a perfect mix.
This more serious side of the tribe is accompanied by the greatest hip hop jazz-filled instrumentals, and that's taking into account all the Gang Starr and Roots albums. Nothing even touches The Low End Theory. The results are fantastic, making for a different feel, even deeper than their debut. The album was all about fusing the top with the bottom, both figuratively and literally. The group mixes these smooth jazzy instrumentals with intelligent lyrics.
Its worth noting that Phife Dawg actually does shit in this album. Instead of just making a couple cameo appearances on the debut, Phife is a major player, even out shining Q-Tip at times. So if you're a fan of the funky diabetic, that's reason enough to buy the album. But I'm going to assume you already have this if you're a fan of Phife.
Along with the general public, I consider The Low End Theory to be the groups best album. More often than not, it finds itself on lists of the best hip hop albums ever, which is odd considering the album is an inanimate object that shouldn't be finding anything. Most of all, the tribe showed their fans that they should expect greatness with every album, something they've stood true to for the majority of their career. New fans bought into the album as well, selling approximately three bazillion copies. It's also important to note that not a single person has every bought this and been disappointed. Having this actually immediately raises you in social status, giving you at least five more friends. There's even rumors out there that repeated listens of this will cure cancer. If I ever saw someone with this in their collection, I wouldn't hesitate to donate internal organs to them, assuming they needed them. All because they had simply heard if The Low End Theory.
If you can take a hint, the rest of this review is pointless, but carry on regardless. You've already dedicated your time...
1. Excursions
Very possibly the best opening thirty seconds in hip hop history. The tribe lets everyone know they haven't gone anywhere, displaying everything they are about on the opener. Q-Tips lines are crisp as ever but there's a very noticeable change in tone, in regards to the instrumental, which sounds darker than their previous work. The biggest parts of the beats, are the guitar played baseline and are only really evident when you're bumping this shit, hence the low end theory. I can recite this whole fucking song also, it's great.
2. Buggin' Out
A personal favorite, as it features Phife Dawg's greatest verse. Seriously, its one of the more quotable things I've ever come across in my life time. Not that I like him more or anything, but its always a treat when Q-Tip is outshined by his rhyming partner. Tips verses are really damn good too, though. Its just that whenever Phife does anything remotely awesome you're free to say that he blew Kamaal out of the water. Not too sure how this song could have been any better so enjoy it, or less Ali will find you. Not like he's doing anything else nowadays. Also, I highly, highly recommend giving the video at least five plays.
3. Rap Promoter
Tips starts the song off by saying, "this is a fly love song", which I love every time I hear it. Another fantastic instrumental graces this song, featuring a more jazzy feel that the last two, while Q-Tip rhymes about show promoters for being shady. Interesting topic that introduces some of the first social issues of the album. Good song.
4. Butter
Q-Tip pops up and says a few lines midway through but this is mostly a solo outing for Phife Dawg. It gets a bit ridiculous when he starts giving off names of girls, which serves as a bit of filler, but this is still a nice song. Phife talks about how many bitches he gets, but in a funny and clever way. In the second verse he responds to a couple girls saying, "we love you Phife" by simply saying, "My names Malik". Makes me laugh every single time. The instrumental sound really nicely and creative, providing Phife with a good surface. Its really smooth... like butter.
5. Verses From The Abstract
This song has some jazz contributions from Ron Carter that are a pretty nice touch. Q-Tip sounds good and all but this is one of my least favorite tracks from the album. Not bad, though.
6. Show Business (Feat. Sadat X, Lord Jamar, & Diamond D)
The tribe unleashes an assault against the music industry that sounds extremely good. The song is great in every way but the most impressive part is the way that all the guest features mesh together so well. You honestly have to see the features next to the title to realize that these guys aren't just part of A Tribe Called Quest.
7. Vibes And Stuff
This is a good song. The fact that the group ran out of names for their song gives me an excuse to run to of things to say about it. Thats all.
8. The Infamous Date Rape
Q-Tip explores the mindset of a guy that desperately wants to have sex with a girl, but doesn't want to be convicted of a date rape. Keep in mind that this was years before rappers videotaped all their sexual encounters to defend any rape rumors that may come up. Its a pretty interesting topic that not many rappers have talked about since. Q Tip goes into detail, throwing in some humor as well. He basically says that guys think that the only way a girl will deny them is if they're io their period. The hook is terrific as well, so this track gets an A+ from me.
9. Check The Rhime
A reoccurring theme on this is album is people being separated from their rightfully earned cash, which is the main topic of this track. "Check The Rhime" was the lead single from this album and is still one of the groups most well known songs. I don't love it as much as some of the other singles but this is still a great song. This is also another one of those cases where Phife manages to outshine Kamaal, since that so often happens, this song is quite notable.
10. Everything Is Fair
If you've ever heard this song then you know how damn annoying that vocal sample is. This is still a really nice song though and it makes me happy. I've always loved when Q-Tip starts to sing for a couple seconds, but that's still the most memorable part of this song.
11. Jazz (We've Got)
Another single from the album, this song is just fucking awesome. The drums on this thing hit you incredibly hard, but the instrumental still manages to sound smooth. This was very comforting to the groups previous fans, as they saw that this album would contain the same jazz contained in their debut. There is also a rumor going around that Pete Rock originally made this beat, but Q-Tip recreated it without his permission. There's no way to know just how true that is but listening to it, I see a little influence from Pete. Just a little, though.
12. Skypager
I'm with the assumption that most people don't even know what a skypager is nowadays, so this will probably sound extremely dated. The instrumental sounds modern enough, though, so there's no reason to complain. "Skypager" highlights the highs and lows of owning the device. I don't know if this was endorsement or not but the tribe was so influential at this time that people probably went out and bought one just to jump on the bandwagon.
13. What?
"What's a bitch without attitude, what's longitude without latitude, what's a party if it ain't got bass, what's a stripper without a fat ass, what's abuse without a victim, what's a shit without a rectum" Check this song out for more interrogation from Q-Tip. If you really look at the lyrics and think about the questions, it provides hours upon hours of fun. You know, if answering question is your type of thing.
14. Scenario (Feat. Leaders Of The New School)
The so called greatest posse cut in hip hop history. I'd have to say that's one of the more accurate things I've heard in my entire life, this shit fucking rocks. Along with quotable lyrics from each member, this also unleashed the career of Busta Rhymes, skyrocketing him into fame. You can say what you want about his solo career but his verse on here is still one of the greatest of all time. Nothing I say can justify how great this song is.
Rating: 5/5
The Low End Theory is, like, a strong five stars, and one of my top five favorite albums of all time. In their second go around, the tribe fade away from their hippy sounds on their debut and focus on a more hardcore and pure hip hop feel. The jazz from the first album is there, but simply sounds better here. One of the biggest improvements on the album is the improved lyricism of Phife Dawg, who comes through in a major way. I feel bad that I didn't give him much love during the review, so I must say that Ali Shaheed Muhammed is the unheralded star. Along with the help of Q-Tip, his production truly makes this album the masterpiece that it is. If you don't really get into it through the first listen (I can't imagine that would be the case for anyone), keep on listening. I don't want to tell anyone what they need to like or anything, but if you don't enjoy this, well I'm sorry but you're simply wrong. Right now, think of how old you are. Now take that number and buy that many copies of The Low End Theory, which will pay back the tribe for each year you've gone without this classic.