A Tribe Called Quest release their final album ‘Thank You 4 Your Service’

Alongside fellow members of the Native Tongues collective: De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and Black Sheep their key associates; A Tribe Called Quest have made an unquantifiable contribution to the world of hip hop and alternative culture moreover.

In forging a style that differed from that of the West Coast’s prominent rap artists; one less hedonistic, with a greater concern for social issues and a bedrock in the sampling of soul and jazz records, the Tribe became distinguished leaders in a thriving rap culture, creating music that was a world away from the insipid areas of the music industry’s mainstream, during the late eighties.

Their collaborations and posse cuts, their distinctive productions and their articulate rhymes elevated the Native Tongues crew to new heights, with each of its constituent groups releasing at least one classic album between 1988 and 1993. Both the formation and separation of the crew was imprecise, but during their initial years together they made some incredibly powerful and influential music, with their ethos living on through the posse’s individual groups and respective solo projects, as well as several heirs apparent, who took influence from their seminal works.

After the sad passing of founding Tribesman Phife Dawg earlier this year, there was an outpouring of emotion from the hip hop community and Phife’s bandmates Q-Tip and Jarobi. Much of that emotion, along with Phife’s final verses, found a place on the Tribe’s final album, Thank You 4 Your Service. Released online today and featuring contributions from Talib Kweli, Kendrick Lamar, Andre 3000 and Anderson .Paak among others, it exemplifies the importance of the group to artists who’ve emerged throughout the last thirty years and is testament to the lasting legacy of the Tribe.

A lyric video for We The People… was also shared online today and can be viewed in the related media section. Talib Kweli, who described the Native Tongues crew as ‘the reason why I rap today’, contributes to the track The Killing Season, along with Kanye West.

We Got It From Here. Thank You For Your Service. #ATCQ November 11th will change your life. #RIPPHIFEDAWG #nativetonguesforever #thesagacontinues

A photo posted by Talib Kweli (@talibkweli) on Nov 4, 2016 at 11:00am PDT

De La Soul’s Pos took to Twitter to express his support for the new record.

I’m a fan of my fam! Downloading now! #ATCQ #newmusic #wegotitfromherethankyou4yourservice… https://t.co/R9OnuKpufx

— POS (@PlugWonDeLaSoul) November 11, 2016

Stream the album via Spotify and Apple Music now and catch Talib Kweli at Band on the Wall on 8th December, with De La Soul appearing live at Albert Hall on 2nd March 2017.