On the songs “Rap Promoter” and “Show Business”, the audience gets a glimpse into the turmoils of the music industry. The track “Butter” tells the story of Phife Dawg’s experiences and tribulations in the pursuit of love with vivid imagery and tasteful humor, displaying the capabilities Dawg possessed as an emcee. Phife Dawg’s playful and energetic presence on the mic never fails to make me smile. The grooviness and soothing jazz that oozes from “Excursions” continues on tracks such as “Buggin’ Out”, “Verses from the Abstract”, “Jazz (We’ve got)”, “Check the Rhime”, and “Vibes and Stuff”. This can be seen on lines such as “Get in the zone of positivity, not negativity/ ‘Cause we gotta strive for longevity.” “Excursions” gives the listener a taste of the uplifting and good-hearted philosophies the trio represents. The intro track of the album with “Excursions,” a groovy track featuring some of Q-Tip’s best verses to date is chock full of life lessons. To this day, I find myself gravitating towards Low-End Theory whenever I am in a bad mood or simply need a pick-me-up. As my love for hip hop began to blossom, I listened to Low-End Theory day after day, internalizing every punchline, verse, and song. The precision of the album’s sequencing also gives it a sharp sense of purpose which unfortunately became rare during the CD era. They cover grave topics with finesse, keeping the album interesting from start to finish. I could not seem to get the infectious basslines and horn-based melodies out of my head. The production complemented the overall tone and content of the album flawlessly. ![]() I was enthralled by the jazzy and calming production filled with smart sampling handled by Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, and Skeff Anslem. I was simply blown away by the phenomenal flows and wordplay from Q-Tip and Phife Dawg respectively. The feelings that I felt when I first pressed play on that fateful afternoon 5 years ago are forever etched into my mind. I vividly remember the first time I listened to the hip-hop trio’s sophomore LP Low-End Theory from 1991. ![]() My first exposure to golden age hip-hop came through the form of A Tribe Called Quest, a happy and laid back group that helped pioneer jazz rap and alternative rap in the 1990s alongside De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Gang Starr, Digable Planets, and the Roots. In honor of the great Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest, who passed away on March 22nd of 2016, I felt it would only be right to dedicate my first article to the five-foot assassin himself and discuss one of my favorite hip-hop records of all time: Low-End Theory.
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