DJ Chris Read: A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders 20th Anniversary Mix Tape.

DJ Chris Read: A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders 20th Anniversary Mix Tape.

With the trainwreck of the Presidential Debate this week (the first debate, I am late posting this contribution), I figured that I would write about something other than politics today. The You Tube algorithm connected me with some new flavor in the last week. Through my travels, I was connected with DJ Chris Read. He does anniversary mixes of iconic Hip Hop albums. On this day, I happened upon the Chris Read A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders 20th Anniversary Mix Tape.(hit the link below)

A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders 20th Anniversary Mix Tape By DJ Chris Read

In my opinion A Tribe Called Quest (known as ATCQ, Tribe or Quest) was one of the most influential Hip Hop groups of all times. Midnight Marauders was the third studio album. It was originally released on November 9, 1993. Right before I graduated from Hampton University in May of 1994. I remember watching the video for Award Tour on the old school projector style big screen in the old Student Union. Midnight Marauders is the cassette tape that i would drive back and forth from Hampton, Virginia to Cambria Heights, New York listening to especially on that last part of the long haul the New Jersey Turnpike and the Belt Parkway through Brooklyn into Queens.

According to Wikipedia sampling in music is the reuse of a portion of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may be comprised of the elements including rhythm, melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music. DJ and Producers have taken old music and used it to be the foundation of a newer Hip Hop song. For me as a Hip Hop head, it is exciting to sit with my Grandmother and listen to her old records and I can pick out familiar sound.

One of my all time favorite Tribe songs is “Lyrics to Go”. I always knew that one of the samples that Q-Tip used was the song “Inside My Love” by Minnie Riperton. Riperton originally recorded the love song in 1975. The one part of the song which was sampled was a very high pitched note comes at 3:07 seconds. It is always interesting to hear what the producer picks out to build a new sound. As one of my favorite Tribe productions I knew about the original song. However, I never knew where the guitar rift came from. But, listening to Chris Read, I was able to learn.

The style of Chris as a DJ is to blend in the sampled track and then add the completed Hip Hop song to the end. It shows us how the original song sounded and how the original was manipulated to create something new. Just like the original Midnight Marauders project, Lyrics to Go was the last track. Lyrics to Go has always been a song that I listen to when I was sad. For some reason it has that “lift you up” effect on me. DJ Chris Read was moving from the completed Tribe version of Electric Relaxation. I then noticed the riff from Lyrics to Go. However, Read had blended into the original track. I quickly identified it was a component of my all time Tribe favorite. I quickly reviewed the liner notes in the You Tube video to find out the funky guitar came from the God Father of Soul himself……..James Brown. The James Brown track was “Just Enough Room For Storage” which was a from the 1971 Funk project entitled Sho Is Funky Down Here. I just could not believe that I had never heard the original song however, it was a sound that brought me great comfort in sad times.

I believe that the smoothest blend starts at 37:58 going from the original James Brown track and Read matches the blend into Lyrics to Go. Man, I tell you that I was floored with regard how DOPE it was.

According to Wikipedia, A Tribe Called Quest was formed in St. Albans, Queens, New York in 1985. Years active 1985 – 1998, 2006 – 2013 and 2015- 2017. Members were rapper / producer Q-Tip, DJ / producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, rapper Jarobi White and the late Phife Dawg (November 20, 1970  – March 22, 2016). Phife passed away due to complications with diabetes.

A Tribe Called Quest had four members Q-Tip, DJ aThe group never received a Grammy. I agree with west coast rapper MURS, “If Q-Tip is not in your top 5, I don’t know what your qualifications are. This group made me proud to be from Queens, New York. Q-Tip has a rant to the Grammy Awards about his dissatisfaction because the group never got an award even after Phife passed away. For all of you readers who may not have had the opportunity to check Tribe, do yourself a favor……..jump on it. A Tribe Called Quest, thank you very much for your contribution to Hip Hop culture. R.I.P. Phife rest well brother.

Q-Tip Grammy Rant:

A Tribe Called Quest Discography:

People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)

The Low End Theory (1991)

Midnight Marauders (1993)

Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996)

The Love Movement (1998)

We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)

Documentary (2011) Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport