Last weekend at Austin’s fancy new downtown movie theater the Violet Crown Cinema, I caught Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, the new documentary about the enigmatic hip-hop quartet. All four members contribute, even “… and sometimes Y” member Jarobi. The four, it turns out, have very different personalities, which caused lots of ups and downs during the group's life. Everyone is given a chance to speak about the rough spots Tribe faced over the years, including their dissolution and a later rift between MCs and lifelong friends Phife Dawg and Q-Tip that has to do with the former's health. By letting everyone speak out, you get a good sense of Phife, Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi as people as well as artists, and how their personalities shape the relationships they have with one another.
Lots of other important Tribe associates appear as well. It was cool to look back on and get present updates on some key figures like Red Alert, Large Professor and several members of the Native Tongues collective.
Ah, yes, Native Tongues. The group of influential, slightly off-center hip-hop musicians from the late '80s and early '90s that briefly looked like the next big thing before going “poof.” The flagship members, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and Tribe, immediately struck a tone with a lot of hip-hop fans like me who were always looking for something new. Their music had the danceable, sample-heavy beats that qualified it as good, true hip-hop, but with a large dose of cleverness. When De La came out in their schlumpy duds rapping about potholes in their lawn and the D.A.I.S.Y Age, that was some new shit.
Early shot of De La Soul (source: gilmansworld)
It wasn't all costumes and silly rhymes. The raps were crafty and often deep -- the JBs in particular picked up on the Afrocentric themes that were growing in popularity in the late '80s. The music too was going in bold new directions. De La's first album, Prince Paul's brilliantly produced Three Feet High and Rising, was a celebration of the art of sampling. The Jungle Brothers went in all sorts of directions and made some great danceable hip-hop and pioneered "hip-house." Quest started blending in jazzy elements that pointed the way for many alternative hip-hop artists in the '90s.
After the core started off strong, the Native Tongues quickly expanded to include Queen Latifah and Monie Love and soon Black Sheep, Chi Ali, Beatnuts, Leaders of the New School and a few others that vary depending on who you ask like Da Bush Babees and Fu-Schnickens. The film features interviews with many of the above, and it touches on why the core Native Tongues drifted apart. In the end though, the film’s subject really is just A Tribe Called Quest, and the broader Native Tongue collective is just a brief, secondary topic.
So it left me thinking about Native Tongues. Why did the formerly close associates who seemed to have so much in common and so much potential as a posse give up on the idea? Could you foresee – and would you want to see – collaboration in the future? What is the legacy of Native Tongues? It seemed like a good time for me to go deeper. So let's dig a bit. FBtA presents its history of the Native Tongues, with a friendly dose of sight and sound, in multiple parts. We may never understand why the vibe died, but at least the collective left us with a trove of good music (and videos) to enjoy.
An Audio and Video History of the Native Tongue Collective - Part 1: High and Rising
The Formative Years (-1986): Phife Dawg and Q-Tip grow up together in the '70s and '80s in Queens, near where Run D.M.C. hailed from. Tip later goes to Murray Bergtraum High School for Business Careers with Ali Shaheed Muhammad and JBs Mike Gee and Afrika Baby Bam. High school is also where the members of De La Soul meet in the late '80s out in Long Island.
1987: The Jungle Brothers drop their first single, "Jimbrowski" b/w "Bragging and Boasting." MC Mike Gee's uncle, legendary hip-hop DJ/producer Kool DJ Red Alert, made sure it found its way onto his can't-miss weekend radio show on WRKS 98.7 FM.
1988: Very important year in Native Tongue history. The Jungle Brothers release their first full album, Straight Out the Jungle. The first single from the album, "I'll House You," is now often cited as the first "hip-house" song ever (for what that's worth).
JBs also released two singles in 1988 featuring a young MC, Q-Tip: "The Promo" and "Black is Black." The former track serves to announce Tip's arrival and, as the title implies, promote the upcoming joint from his crew, A Tribe Called Quest. Red Alert played this one a bit on his show as well, and that's how I first heard Q-Tip.
Red occasionally also used to play an obscure B-side from the "Black is Black" 12" single, "In Time," another JBs collaboration with Tip. The opening line was prophetic, and a lot faster than many people would have predicted around the time that Reagan handed off the White House to Bush I:
In time this rhyme'll be more than just a fantasy
A Black man'll be the man to claim Presidency
Is it hard to see?
So try to see as i see
In time i see a better Black reality
De La Soul started dropping singles in 1988 as well, starting with "Plug Tunin'" on Tommy Boy Records, and buzz started building immediately.
Queen Latifah, a confident, young rapper from New Jersey out of DJ Mark the 45 King's stable, released her first single, "Wrath of My Madness."
1989: Another key year as the core of the collective really emerges. De La Soul drop the classic 3 Feet High and Rising, one of the first hip-hop LPs to cross over to the college music crowd. The first time I saw them was a goofy spot on Yo! MTV Raps back in '89 promoting their video for "Me, Myself and I."
Meanwhile, the Jungle Brothers quickly eliminated consideration of a sophomore slump by following up their first LP with the great, expansive Done by the Forces of Nature. One of the singles they released in '89 was the funky, bass heavy album opener "Beyond This World."
1989 also saw the official birth of the Native Tongues as a collective. Basically, the young trio of groups met and quickly clicked. Realizing they shared similar perspectives on hip-hop, they got the idea to form a collective. Beats, Rhymes & Life has a good segment on how the idea was hatched and the Native Tongue name was quickly adopted by consensus. Wikipedia offers up explanatory quotes from two pioneering members:
"The Native Tongues came about where, basically, we had a show together in Boston. Us [De La Soul], Jungle and we linked from there. We had a natural love for the art and a natural love for each other on how we put stuff together. So we invited them [the Jungle Brothers] to a session, and when they hooked up with us, we happened to be doing 'Buddy.' It wasn't business; it wasn't for a cheque. It was just trading ideas and just seeing what you're doing. Bottom line, it was just having fun."
— Trugoy the Dove, aka Dave
"I remember Afrika (Afrika Baby Bam) called me that night, like, two in the morning. 'Yo these kids, De La Soul, you gotta meet ’em! I swear we're just alike!' I went there, met them, and it was just fuckin' love at first sight. It was disgusting. In hip hop, it praises individualism. I think that's the main achievement of the Native Tongues. It just showed people could come together."
— Q-Tip
Early Native Tongues group shot on the cover of the Jungle Brothers' "Doin' Our Own Dang" single - also available on cassette!
It seems like there should be a whole bundle of great "posse cuts" by Native Tongues. In reality, there weren't that many that featured all or most of the core. The group efforts started coming out in '89 with "Buddy" from De La's 3 Feet High ... and the Jungle Brothers' "Doin' Our Own Dang" from Done By the Forces of Nature. "Buddy" featured Jungle Brothers Mike Gee and Africa Baby Bam, Quest's Q-Tip, and Monie Love, a sister from England who too became a part of the new Native Tongues. (Tribe's Phife shows up in the video and is also in the extended mix, but didn't make the shorter album version.) "Doin Our Own Dang" saw the JBs joined by all three De La members, Tip, Latifah and Monie.
Queen Latifah and Monie Love also teamed up for Latifah's 1989 single, "Ladies First." A few other early female hip-hop figures are in the video (can you name them?).
As the '80s closed, the Native Tongues looked primed to take over the hip-hop world, or at least carve out a nice big niche. There was a ton of momentum. De La Soul and the Jungle Brothers had released what would eventually be widely viewed as classic albums. Queen Latifah was already atop many lists of the most talented women in hip-hop. A Tribe Called Quest's forthcoming album was one of the most highly anticipated upcoming releases in any genre. TV appearances grew in frequency and stature. Here's an early live appearance from De La on (yeah) Arsenio back in 1989.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the block party. For a few years into the '90s, there was still promise. The brand expanded and some great music was released. But then the Native Tongue "movement" -- if there ever really was such a thing -- started to stall. The tone of the music grew darker as the newly successful musicians matured and had their first experiences with the record industry. Contract issues bogged down some. Other groups disbanded. Latifah went to Hollywood. Relationships wilted or crumbled. And importantly, tastes changed. Out went the kente, in came the gangster clothes.
More on the Native Tongues as they moved into the '90s in Part 2.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the block party. For a few years into the '90s, there was still promise. The brand expanded and some great music was released. But then the Native Tongue "movement" -- if there ever really was such a thing -- started to stall. The tone of the music grew darker as the newly successful musicians matured and had their first experiences with the record industry. Contract issues bogged down some. Other groups disbanded. Latifah went to Hollywood. Relationships wilted or crumbled. And importantly, tastes changed. Out went the kente, in came the gangster clothes.
More on the Native Tongues as they moved into the '90s in Part 2.
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