2016 has been a weird year. Weâve seen shows end, weâve seen showâs get rebooted, but weâve also lost a lot of important people, one of them being A Tribe Called Questâs Phife Dawg. Phife, who died in March, left a hole in hip-hopâs heart. But what if I said we get to hear him again? Lots of rumors have been going around of an ATCQ reunion, and yesterday Q-Tip confirmed it.
Legendary group A Tribe Called Quest was last heard as a group in 1998 on The Love Movement. After which, we saw them split, weâve gotten solo ventures, documentaries and more on the group that changed hip-hop forever. If you remember back in my interview with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed last month, I wasnât able to get much out of the Tribe member. Fast forward to last night, and Q-Tip posted this to his Instagram, which later went up on the Tribeâs Twitter.
â ATCQ (@ATCQ) October 28, 2016
This is huge.
We get the trio back together, weâre getting brand new original content from the group, and theyâve added a couple new faces to round out the album. In the letter, Q-Tip explains that the reunion was solidified after they performed on the Tonight Show last November. Q goes further and mentions that the performance was the same night as the Paris attacks. Continuing on, it sounds like the stars aligned for the group at the right time and now weâre seeing the fruits of it.
It sounds like the name of the album â in perfect Tribe fashion â will be Paths of Rhythm (this is not confirmed, just speculation based on the Instagram post). Both Busta and Consequence make appearances on the album, though it hasnât been confirmed how large their respective contributions will be. If I was a betting man, Iâd bet that weâd hear a return to the classic sound. I think weâll hear Adrian Younge on some production and I think Paths of Rhythm will be the perfect way to close the classic book of A Tribe Called Quest. The album will release to the masses on November 11th.
Are you excited for the new ATCQ album? Let me know your thoughts!