At the time of its release, Midnight Marauders wasn't exactly met with the warmest of welcomes. From the second it dropped, it was so dope that The Source said "let's give it four stars just to prove we don't know what the fuck we're talking about", while Rolling Stone on the other hand said, "good shit, Source, we'll one up your act of fuckery and give it two out of five". In the long run, though, the people said eat a dick and made this The Tribe's most successful album, as Midnight Marauders would end up selling a shit load of copies, and even though I disagree, a hell of a lot of people see this as the group's best album.
Content wise, Tip and Phife continue and expand upon their wordplay from The Low End Theory, while the music took a complete 180. Provided by Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammed, the instrumentals gave a much more in your face approach than displayed on the first two albums, as they held more immediacy than everything up to this point besides maybe "Scenario."
Just by the album cover alone, one could come to the conclusion that this would have a much more overtly hip hop sound than previous work. In the background, behind the usual character that appears on nearly every other Tribe album, are the head shots of other rappers in the game, stretching across the genre. Similar to what The Roots would do with their Things Fall Apart album, there are several different versions of the cover, three to be exact, but the one with the red border is most widely available, and unsurprisingly, the one I own. Truth be told, I could right paragraphs all day filled with tidbits of information about this album, but I think that fact alone should signal how I feel about it. I'll let the write-up speak for itself.
1. Midnight Marauders Tour Guide
One of the very few intros that I find not only tolerable, but actually enjoyable. That thing that appears on the album's cover provides the spoken word introduction, as she (?) explains how she will help guide us through the album, and since these little skits pop up sporadically, it gives these songs a fairly cohesive feel. So yeah, good job, guys.
2. Steve Biko (Stir It Up)
And just like that, you realize that The Tribe is going for a completely different sound this time around. Even though the jazzy production is still obviously there, it's not so in your face about it like The Low End Theory, instead pushing itself to the back, as there's a more traditional hip hop vibe going on. None of this comes off as forced, though, because its Tribe, and that's just the type of thing they do, you know? The constant echoing at the end of damn near every bar may become annoying, but if that's the case, you just need to listen to the song again. It's not. One thing I just realized, though, is that this song has not the slightest thing the do with Steve Biko, the anti-apartheid revolutionary (nah, I'm not that smart; I had to Wikipedia that shit). That doesn't take away from this being awesome.
3. Award Tour (Feat. Trugoy the Dove)
C'mon, you should know this one already. "Award Tour" was one of the most successful songs that the group ever released, and I'm happy to report that it still sounds fantastic today, and is actually really fun to hear, which is a rare trait in today's music. I'll be the first to admit that most of my favorite current songs can scarcely be considered "fun". I also fucking love that they chose Trugoy the Dove, the man who is usually considered to play second fiddle in De La Soul, to perform the chorus. He does so masterfully, but it's just icing on the cake, as our hosts both deliver phenomenal verses. How could you not fuck with this?
4. 8 Million Stories
Phife proves that he can do more than write non-sequitur one-liners, as he takes care of things all by himself on this song. Its cool to hear him on a little more of a serious note, as he basically names a much of previous situations that had been pissing him off, but it's even more impressive when you realize how much progress the man has made in his career. Let's be honest with ourselves, he kind of fucking sucked on the debut. He's able to flex over an instrumental that finds its place nicely in the context on the album, but also stays out of the way for the most part, giving Phife the proper stage to rhyme.
5. Sucka Nigga
Q-Tip unleashes an onslaught on profanity, which sounds ridiculous if you're not listening intently, and with " not listening intently", I mean "making an effort to not pay attention". Now, if you listen to the song with even the very slightest bit of focus, you'll hear Q-Tip try to explain the appeal of the N-Word in the African-American community, and even though he claims to cringe whenever he's about to say it, he still says it an absurd about of times. The song is hypocritical in its nature, but that's because it makes an effort to rationalize the use of the most polarizing word in the history of the world. Take it as offensive or violent if you wish, but I advise you simply take it for what it is.
6. Midnight
This song is fucking fantastic. Q-Tip's solo rhymes ride the beat smoothly, and the instrumental puts you in the frame of mind to enjoy life, regardless of the time of day. Pardon me if this is unnecessary, but I feel as if I'm understanding the genius of the production. That's mostly because I hate redundancy, and one of the only words I can use to describe Midnight Marauders is "smooth" (and a much of bullshit synonyms, but you get my point). I'm always left wondering just what in the world Phife Dawg could have done with this instrumental, but it gives the listener a continued sense of "I sure would like to know what a Q-Tip solo album would sound like". (Spoiler Alert: awful. For Amplified, at least)
7. We Can Get Down
Doesn't reach the same greatness of "Midnight" (really, how could it have?), but its great in its own way. Then again, putting Q-Tip and Phife Dawg on the same song tends to cause those type of results, especially after three consecutive solo tracks. The beat is still light-hearted, and yes, smooth, but the occasional scratching helps give their words a little bit more of an edge. Phife actually kicks the shut out of Q on this one, and while I've continuously stated his improvement as an MC, that's still a feat worth noting.
8. Electric Relaxation
This is one of my favorite songs of all time, and that's all I really have to say about that.
9. Clap Your Hands
After the ultra-laid-back feeling of "Electric Relaxation", the sounds that make up "Clap Your Hands" assault your ears initially, but it still makes for a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. I also love that this song has been gaining some more attention, mostly because its played in basketball arenas across the country because the repetition of "clap you hands!" tends to make a group of fans do so. In 2014, though, I'm left wondering if EPMD is still Phife Dawg's favorite group. Don't get me wrong, I love them as much as the next guy, and their first four albums are landmarks in our genre (although I will make, and stick to the claim that Business As Usual is criminally overrated), but they haven't done anything in a long ass time. Makes for a good question if I ever run by him at a McDonalds.
10. Oh My God (Feat. Busta Rhymes)
Since Busta Rhymes had the best verse on the entire Low End Theory album, it only makes sense that he would appear on this album. The Tribe must have realized that it probably be best if that didn't happen again, so they assigned him the job of simply repeating the title a shit load of times. The song itself is enjoyable, but the remix is actually even better, and I promise that its worth your time and effort to track it down. The rapping all revolves around Phife Dawg, though. On here, he infamously calls himself "a funky diabetic", compares something to two-day old shit, and I'm still wondering just what in the hell he said that had to be censored. Not exactly his finest moment, but interesting nonetheless.
11. Keep It Rollin' (Feat. Large Professor)
Speaking of making infamous claims, this whole damn song became infamous for guest producer and rapper Large Professor commanding that his fans buy his album when he drops it, a command that nobody could ever obey, as the album in question, The LP, would never actually be released. Yeah, yeah, I know that he could eventually provide a remastered version of his original material that would be sent out in the form of his debut, 1st Class, but you know damn well that's not the same thing. The song itself has an instrumental that sounds different from everything we've heard thus far, which makes sense considering Extra P produced it, but it still sounds good, because obviously.
12. The Chase, Part II
Alright, getting back on track, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg split the mic duties, making for a song that is inferior to every single song up to this point, but that's hardly a bad thing, as this is still pretty damn good. The original version was never officially released, but a slightly altered version of this song served as the B-Side on the "Oh My God" single, which features the first ever gust appearance from Consequence, a man who would become very familiar with Tribe fans. One thing that's always confused me is that the Midnight Marauder program says that this concludes the show, and as you can see, there's two more songs, so she's either lying, or the following tracks are some type of bonus material. Feel free to let me know what's going on if you're also in on the joke.
13. Lyrics To Go
I remember watching the Beats, Rhymes & Life documentary and thinking about how dope it was that Q-Tip worked in the high pitched singing as a focal point of the instrumental, as I didn't even notice it until then, but ever since, its, like, the only fucking thing I can hear whenever I listen to "Lyrics To Go". Honestly, I'm fine with that, because this is still an incredible song that's more-or-less an anomaly on Midnight Marauders, as it abandon the laid-back production, in favor of a more Rock-based sound. It still works, though, because it does that thing where a song abandons the normal sound, but still makes the album feel cohesive. I've always found it impressive when artists are able to do that shit.
14. God Lives Through
Ali Shaheed Muhammad takes Busta Rhymes' vocal sample from "Oh My God" and incorporates it into the beat of this song, which, again, sounds different from everything else on Midnight Marauders. This is honestly, by far, the weakest song on the album, but it's always a good thing when the worst song also happens to be the final track. I even enjoyed Q-Tip (who I haven't praised nearly enough on this write-up, but I'm sure you know the deal) mindlessly humming for a bit. It ends the night on a carefree, yet entertaining note.
Rating: 5/5
Midnight Marauders is one of the best albums I've ever heard. It's easily the most straightforward hip hop album in their catalog thus far, but they never compromise their integrity. They just found a way for more people to listen. The result was two of their biggest singles in their careers, with "Electric Relaxation" and "World Tour" both topping charts, one of the most consistent albums of the 90s, and even though its not my favorite Tribe record, its the one that cemented them as my second favorite group of all time, regardless of genre. Q-Tip plateaus from his performance on Low End Theory, which is still a great thing, but this is the best Phife Dawg has ever rapped, and the crew's production proved that it was possible to get your music to the masses without diluting the message. As if you couldn't tell already, this is an album that you have to own and love for me to respect your opinion (only kind of kidding), because who the hell wants to miss out on absolute perfection?