Welcome to the alphabet challenge. We have run some stuff like this but ran out of time (now we have plenty).
Every Letter of the alphabet can be used with a music act or artist, so for a series of posts spanning 27 weeks we aim to try something new each week. So, enjoy these quick review posts of some entertaining and sometimes bizarre artists.
Main rule of this is to try something we have never listened to before, preferably something new but no proviso on time. Official Links will be at the bottom of each article with interesting thoughts on each as we go.
Lets Begin….
A Tribe Called Quest
We had lots of choices for artists that we did know like All Time Low, Akon, Adele or even Avicii but this is about trying someone new. Thus we picked A Tribe called Quest. Entering this we knew only the main kick of their main song “Can You Kick It?” and thought we would try their back catalogue for a night.
About
The Band was first formed in 1985 by New York natives Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of Brooklyn. They came to become one of hip-hop’s most legendary bands and revered groups of all time which makes us not hearing their music until now even worse.
They built their sound with a unique approach of rap music with a jazz infused soundscape or a Afro-centric rhyme. ATCQ helped create a new genre of music that held popularity on the east coast of USA in the early 1990s.
Their last album was in 2016 (We Got It From Here…. Thank You 4 Your Service) showing how long they have been going and last were active and toured in 2017. They have won both a Brit (2017) and have been nominated for Grammy several times (1997, 1999, 2012).
They helped a movement and shone through their lyrics and their overall sound.
Songs to look out for
Can I Kick It? – The song that started the deep dive into them. The recognisable main lyric will then twist and take your ear on a weird journey into the unknown. Good ebb and flow piece.
Check The Rhime – Laidback song with similar feel to Can I Kick It? It flows with the rapped lyrics and the drums pacing it with good use of trumpets/sax.
Solid Wall of Sound – Again the beat got us. Does what it says, good solid wall of sound to keep the ear going.
Overall
A good beat always catches our attention and they have several albums so kept us going for several hours and probably several more.
For More Info
Also a Official Video Link if you want to start the dive into their music.
Can I Kick It? – Official Video Link.
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