- Mar 29, 2010
- 415
- 10
Its been 17 years since A Tribe Called Quest released their 3rd Album "Midnight Marauders". With their previous two LP's
being labeled as a Classic by many Hip-Hop heads, it was obvious that this one would fall into that same category. But wouldn't it be impossible
to top "The Low End Theory" ?? Well I believe ATCQ did the impossible with no problem !!
From the start of the Intro where you hear the "Midnight Marauders Tour Guide" say hello, you can tell that you're in for a great ride (btw I love the idea of having the Tour Guide drop
statistics, facts, etc at the end of some of the songs)
The 2nd track starts off with Phife being the 1st to spit on the Album. A first for ATCQ but it goes to show that Phife had stepped his lyrical skills way up and was
ready to be taken serious instead of being labeled as the other guy who raps with Q-Tip. "Award Tour" is the 3rd track (as well as their highest charting single) . The next track is "8 Million Stories"
and this to happens to be another first: Phife has a Solo track before Tip. Its no "Butter" but it holds its own and keeps you vibing.
Next is "Sucka @#$%@" which has one of the illest beats on the Album and has my man Tip dropping knowledge about the word. My 2nd Favorite track (Love this song) "Midnight"
is the 6th track. Its Q-Tip doing what he does great: Telling a story. "We Can Get Down" is 7th and it has the infamous line, "too many candy rappers seem to be
at the top, too much candy is no good so now im closing up shop" which as we know is sooooo true since nowadays there is plenty of "candy rappers" and its hurting Hip-Hop
drastically. They took the perfect sample from Rakim "Why waste time on the Microphone ?" to blend with the track and this is a question many rappers need to be asked today.
And then comes "Electric Relaxation"
!!! Mann this song is so smooth, elegant, dope, CLASSIC !!! Tip & Phife trade bars aka throughout the song (don't see this done much anymore
)
but its soo evenly matched that neither is the victor because both of them were superb !! The beat is great and even though idk what Tip says in the Chorus (people say its: "Relax yourself
girl please settle down" but it doesn't sound like it to me) its still a perfect song. "Oh My God" is next up and it has the "ORIGINAL Busta Rhymes on it yelling "Oh My God !" in the chorus
which makes this dope song even more a head nodder !! "Keep It Rollin" features my dude Large Proffesor (Also produced this smooth beat) spittin a nice quickie touching on subjects
from his old Main Source crew "fu** them 2 DJ's" to holing it dwn for Queens by biggin' up a few MC's 4rm that borough to announcing a solo album possibility "Buy the Album When I drop it".
"The Chase, Part II" is a preparer for the illest track on the Album IMO. Its a cool song that has my man Tip shouting out everything from "Everybody in Queens" to "Mc.Donalds"
Now you're at "Lyrics to Go"
. When I say this track is soooooo dope/great/ill/nasty/perfect that it made me cry as I closed my eyes and held the speaker to my ear vibing
and nodding madd hard, I really mean it !!! The Minnie Riperton sample "Inside My Love" is what makes this track so beautiful as it has her singing a high note throughout the entire song. Lyricism
is at the ultimate peak on this track as my man Tip gives you a nasty verse only to be topped by Phife on the 2nd verse that then gets ate up by Tip on the 3rd Verse !!!! Not only is this my favorite ATCQ
track but its my favorite Hip-Hop track as well (as of now) !!! The Album closes with "God Lives Through" which contains the Busta sample from "Oh My God" in a more softer tone to match the beat.
it was a good way to end the Album too !! Perfect 10 Album
!!!
This album went on to go Platinum and is considered a Classic. I read on this one site where someone said this album was, "The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of Hip-Hop Albums" and
I totaly agree with there thought. It has been included in many "Greatest Albums of All Time" category's as well (STILL can't believe The Source gave it only 4 Mics & didn't give it 5 when they went
back and re-rated albums but I feel as if they did it on purpose because many would have felt they showed favoritism by giving them 5mics three times in a row, hell they even said "ATCQ was still making almost perfect music with Midnight Marauders" in that 150th special issue) !!!
Now many of you may feel "Illmatic" will never be touched when it comes to the Greatest Hip-Hop Album (Nas is my favorite rapper and he's the G.O.A.T.) BUT I believe "Midnight Marauders"
edges it out by a hair string and it is "THE GREATEST HIP-HOP ALBUM OF ALL TIME" !!!
**********LATER ON THAT DAY**********
This thread has led me to review these two Albums (heard them both out 3 times each today
) !!!
Crazy how now im going to have to say that Illmatic is the better Album and when I finished this Post in the EARLY MORNING (past 12 o'clock Midnight) I had given the Crown to Midnight Marauders !!!
Just goes to show how deep and creative Hip-Hop is (or was), BUT its safe to say that Midnight Marauders is the Greatest Hip-Hop Album by a Group !!
Tough fight but in the end, Nasty Nas Wins it !!!!
So I guess its safe to say that MM is the 2nd Greatest Album of All Time (DARE to debate ?), Illmatic is the true GREATEST HIP-HOP ALBUM OF ALL TIME !!!
being labeled as a Classic by many Hip-Hop heads, it was obvious that this one would fall into that same category. But wouldn't it be impossible
to top "The Low End Theory" ?? Well I believe ATCQ did the impossible with no problem !!
From the start of the Intro where you hear the "Midnight Marauders Tour Guide" say hello, you can tell that you're in for a great ride (btw I love the idea of having the Tour Guide drop
statistics, facts, etc at the end of some of the songs)
The 2nd track starts off with Phife being the 1st to spit on the Album. A first for ATCQ but it goes to show that Phife had stepped his lyrical skills way up and was
ready to be taken serious instead of being labeled as the other guy who raps with Q-Tip. "Award Tour" is the 3rd track (as well as their highest charting single) . The next track is "8 Million Stories"
and this to happens to be another first: Phife has a Solo track before Tip. Its no "Butter" but it holds its own and keeps you vibing.
Next is "Sucka @#$%@" which has one of the illest beats on the Album and has my man Tip dropping knowledge about the word. My 2nd Favorite track (Love this song) "Midnight"
is the 6th track. Its Q-Tip doing what he does great: Telling a story. "We Can Get Down" is 7th and it has the infamous line, "too many candy rappers seem to be
at the top, too much candy is no good so now im closing up shop" which as we know is sooooo true since nowadays there is plenty of "candy rappers" and its hurting Hip-Hop
drastically. They took the perfect sample from Rakim "Why waste time on the Microphone ?" to blend with the track and this is a question many rappers need to be asked today.
And then comes "Electric Relaxation"
but its soo evenly matched that neither is the victor because both of them were superb !! The beat is great and even though idk what Tip says in the Chorus (people say its: "Relax yourself
girl please settle down" but it doesn't sound like it to me) its still a perfect song. "Oh My God" is next up and it has the "ORIGINAL Busta Rhymes on it yelling "Oh My God !" in the chorus
which makes this dope song even more a head nodder !! "Keep It Rollin" features my dude Large Proffesor (Also produced this smooth beat) spittin a nice quickie touching on subjects
from his old Main Source crew "fu** them 2 DJ's" to holing it dwn for Queens by biggin' up a few MC's 4rm that borough to announcing a solo album possibility "Buy the Album When I drop it".
"The Chase, Part II" is a preparer for the illest track on the Album IMO. Its a cool song that has my man Tip shouting out everything from "Everybody in Queens" to "Mc.Donalds"
Now you're at "Lyrics to Go"
and nodding madd hard, I really mean it !!! The Minnie Riperton sample "Inside My Love" is what makes this track so beautiful as it has her singing a high note throughout the entire song. Lyricism
is at the ultimate peak on this track as my man Tip gives you a nasty verse only to be topped by Phife on the 2nd verse that then gets ate up by Tip on the 3rd Verse !!!! Not only is this my favorite ATCQ
track but its my favorite Hip-Hop track as well (as of now) !!! The Album closes with "God Lives Through" which contains the Busta sample from "Oh My God" in a more softer tone to match the beat.
it was a good way to end the Album too !! Perfect 10 Album
This album went on to go Platinum and is considered a Classic. I read on this one site where someone said this album was, "The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of Hip-Hop Albums" and
I totaly agree with there thought. It has been included in many "Greatest Albums of All Time" category's as well (STILL can't believe The Source gave it only 4 Mics & didn't give it 5 when they went
back and re-rated albums but I feel as if they did it on purpose because many would have felt they showed favoritism by giving them 5mics three times in a row, hell they even said "ATCQ was still making almost perfect music with Midnight Marauders" in that 150th special issue) !!!
Now many of you may feel "Illmatic" will never be touched when it comes to the Greatest Hip-Hop Album (Nas is my favorite rapper and he's the G.O.A.T.) BUT I believe "Midnight Marauders"
edges it out by a hair string and it is "THE GREATEST HIP-HOP ALBUM OF ALL TIME" !!!
**********LATER ON THAT DAY**********
This thread has led me to review these two Albums (heard them both out 3 times each today
Crazy how now im going to have to say that Illmatic is the better Album and when I finished this Post in the EARLY MORNING (past 12 o'clock Midnight) I had given the Crown to Midnight Marauders !!!
Just goes to show how deep and creative Hip-Hop is (or was), BUT its safe to say that Midnight Marauders is the Greatest Hip-Hop Album by a Group !!
Tough fight but in the end, Nasty Nas Wins it !!!!
So I guess its safe to say that MM is the 2nd Greatest Album of All Time (DARE to debate ?), Illmatic is the true GREATEST HIP-HOP ALBUM OF ALL TIME !!!
