A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory (CD)

All Music Guide

While most of the players in the jazzrap movement never quite escaped the pastedon qualities of their vintage samples, with The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest created one of the closest and most brilliant fusions of jazz atmosphere and hiphop attitude ever recorded. The rapping by QTip and Phife Dawg could be the smoothest of any rap record ever heard; the pair are so in tune with each other, they sound like flip sides of the same personality, fluidly trading off on rhymes, with the former earning his nickname (the Abstract) and Phife concerning himself with the more concrete issues of being young, gifted, and black. The trio also takes on the rap game with a pair of hardhitting tracks: "Rap Promoter" and "Show Business," the latter a lyrical soundclash with QTip and Phife plus Brand Nubian's Diamond D, Lord Jamar, and Sadat X. The woman problem gets investigated as well, on two realistic yet sensitive tracks, "Butter" and "The Infamous Date Rape." The productions behind these tr...acks aren't quite skeletal, but they're certainly not complex. Instead, Tribe weaves little more than a standup bass (sampled or, on one track, jazz luminary Ron Carter) and crisp, livesounding drum programs with a few deftly placed samples or electric keyboards. It's a tribute to their unerring production sense that, with just those few tools, Tribe produced one of the best hiphop albums in history, a record that sounds better with each listen. The Low End Theory is an unqualified success, the perfect marriage of intelligent, flowing raps to nuanced, groovecentered productions. - John Bush, All Music Guide Read more Less