Tag: Consequence

On this day 20 years ago, my all time favorite hip hop group, A Tribe Called Quest released their fourth album called “Beats, Rhymes, & Life.” I personally feel like this album is more toned down compared to their work before this one and Consequence, Q-Tip’s cousin, is all over the album. When I first sat down and went through the songs, listening to the album, it was a little annoying because I was so used to just Q-Tip and Phife Dawg doing their usual back and forth, yin and yang kinda thing they got going on but after a while it was no problem. Consequence had to grow on me for a while and he’s definitely no slouch on the mic. “Phony Rappers”, the opening track has a beat that’s hard but the instruments behind it makes it sounds so smooth at the same time. This is a joint about phony rappers who are not who they say or pretend to be, “Get a Hold”, the second joint, is another banger that you just put on while you sit in a room with your homies and pass around a spliff and just nod or good for riding out, “Motivators” is an uplifting joint about staying positive and forgetting about the haters, “Jam” is a joint with a name that fits and has some great blues and jazz sounds behind it, “Crew” sounds kinda Neo-Soul-ish. It’s that kinda shit that sounds like a Erykah Badu, a D’Angelo, The Roots, Mos Def or Jill Scott joint. “The Pressure” is my personal favorite joint on the album because of Ali Shaheed’s dope cuts and scratches on the beat that sounds like a perfect ode to the group while cutting and scratching a few of their classic hits. The song also talks about the pressures of being in the music industry. “1nce Again” is my second favorite joint on the album because of the beat and Tammy Lucas’ smooth voice on the chorus. She’s the same girl who sang on her own version of Heavy D’s 1992 classic “Is It Good to You” and it can be heard on the “JUICE” soundtrack to the movie starring Omar Epps and the late great 2Pac. “Mind Power” is a joint that’s okay. It’s not a joint I would put on first but it’s cool, “The Hop” is another Neo-Soul sound influenced joint. It’s also my third favorite joint on the album because of the beat; Hey! I love a dope ass beat to nod at and it’s what keeps me listening. “Keeping It Moving” is another okay joint to me, I’m not that crazy about it so the title fits but let’s keep it moving. “Baby Phife’s Return”, yoooo Phife spits in his regular way, he uses his Trinidadian accent when he gets into the track, very bold and very representative of being the kid from Queens who loves hip hop. You can hear it in his voice. Damn, I miss him so much. Word. “Separate/Together” is a very short track but it’s dope as hell and my fourth favorite. The bridge is extra catchy too. “We got ta do our due, let’s separate together, got ta move on through, let’s separate together….” Then, “What Really Goes On” has a beat that goes “We got dat bump-da bump-da bum bum bump!” The hardest joint on the album. Sounds like Mobb Deep could have been on this joint too. “Word Play” is another smooth smoke a joint kinda joint too. It’s the smoothest joint on the album with a hard bass that kicks in for a second and it sounds almost hypnotizing. The album finishes with “Stressed Out”, a hard joint with the smooth vocals of Faith Evans. This joint wouldn’t be the same without Faith and the remix is even harder with Raphael Saadiq. BANANAS! 20 years later I just wish my boy Phife was here to see this album make 20. This is hip hop that will never get old. Happy 20th to “Beats, Rhymes & Life”, rest in beats to Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor and thank you Tribe for changing my life. Word. One love.