End of Discussion: Why A Tribe Called Quest’s “Midnight Marauders” Is Better Than “The Low End Theory”

Michael Rapaport, the director of Beats Rhymes & Life, weighs in on two hip-hop classics, and settles a long-running dispute (just barely).

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Image via Complex Original
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INTRO

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I was at Tribe’s last show at Tramps in NYC in 1998 when the group announced their breakup. I still remember the feeling of shock that went through the room that night. Everybody who was there felt hurt. That’s the first time the idea of making a documentary came to mind. Their music was such a big part of my life, and it’s the same for everybody who loves hip-hop.


 

First of all, let me say that this is really hard. For me to pick one of these albums is like choosing a favorite child.

 

Ten years after that show at Tramps I went on tour with Tribe and started production on the film Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. It took a lot of hard work and there’s been some bumps in the road, but it’s all been worth it. The movie has been a box-office success and it’s still playing in theaters. For a documentary about a hip-hop group that hasn’t made a record in 15 years to do this well is phenomenal. I’m just happy to have been associated with A Tribe Called Quest and a film that’s important for hip-hop.

The group released just five albums, but each of them is a masterpiece in its own right. Everybody has their personal favorites, but the two that always seem to stick out are The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders. That’s like a never-ending debate: which one of those is Tribe’s best album?

First of all, let me say that this is really hard. For me to pick one of these albums is like choosing a favorite child. I’m sure a lot of people feel that way because each one is so perfect in its own way. I don’t want to start any riots, but I’m up for the challenge. And today happens to be the 20th anniversary of the release of The Low End Theory, so what better time? I do this for the culture. So click through while I break it down point by point.

(If you’re still not convinced, there’s a lot more insight into these questions on the DVD of Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Journeys of A Tribe Called Quest, which drops October 18.)

By Michael Rapaport (@MichaelRapaport)

As told to Rob Kenner (@boomshots)

Personal Context

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Personal Context

Coming off of People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, which was successful in some ways and influential in a lot of ways, the group still had a lot to prove. They were so young when they did PIT. “Bonita Applebum” was written when Q-Tip was 15. TLET was taking everything that brought them to PIT but then taking it to the next level and defining themselves as a group.


 

Phife and Tip became like Pippen and Jordan, Kobe and Shaq, or Run-DMC. It was all about that yin-and-yang interaction between them.

 

The biggest factor with TLET, group-wise, was the emergence of Phife. He didn’t really do much significant stuff on the first album. But with the second album, it really became a two-man group. He had solo songs on there like “Butter,” which is a classic, and of course “Buggin’ Out.” That song really showed how important Phife was going to be for A Tribe Called Quest. Phife and Tip became like Pippen and Jordan, Kobe and Shaq, or Run-DMC. It was all about that yin-and-yang interaction between the two of them. And of course, the back and forth of “Check The Rhime” really defined that.

Going into Midnight Marauders they had already proved themselves and solidified as a group. So that album was about repeating and taking it to another level again. Which is easier said than done, but they did it. They followed a classic and upped the ante. Put it like this: TLET would be the first run at the championship ring, but it takes a different mentality to stay focused and do it again, as opposed to doing it for the first time. I gotta give this round to MM.

Advantage: Midnight Marauders

The Low End Theory: 0 | Midnight Marauders: 1

Musical Context

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Musical Context

Going into TLET hip-hop was coming out of the ’80s, which was such a heavy James Brown–sampling period. The exciting thing about that whole time in hip-hop was, like, the kids got to run in the playground. Later on, the whole sample issue took us out the Golden Era of hip-hop—but at this point you were still able to sneak stuff and clear stuff. The cat wasn’t out of the bag, so to speak. Going into TLET, they were still able to go crazy with it. People weren’t getting sued yet.


 

The budgets became $200,000 for this sample and $100,000 for this sample. That affects the way you make music.

 

Around the time of MM, the budgets started going up. It happened even more when they did Beats, Rhymes, & Life. In ’91, there was a little bit more of an innocence because the business of hip-hop hadn’t been completely discovered by the masses yet. The biggest thing that affected the music was the samples being harder and harder to clear. A lot of the budgets became $200,000 for this sample and $100,000 for this sample. That affects the way you make music.

Now this is a really tough one because musically MM is crazy too. The samples are, to me, more intricate and more layered. But for its influence on the culture, I’d have to pick TLET, because it changed what a lot of people were sampling. Plus it inspired a generation of kids to become more informed about jazz. When you would look at the liner notes—because that’s what you did at that time, you looked at the notes on your record or your cassette—you would read everything, like, ‘Who’s this guy?’ Then you’d go to the record store and buy an album by Ron Carter.

Advantage: The Low End Theory

The Low End Theory: 1 | Midnight Marauders: 1

Beats

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Beats

Q-Tip as a producer is truly one of the best—so influential and so under-rated. The way Tribe mixed two, three, or four different samples from different genres and made them into one song is top notch. A lot of musical ideas came from Q-Tip and a lot of the mixing and matching and layering came from Ali Shaheed. It was definitely a collaborative thing, but at the end of the day, from what I’ve gathered, Q-Tip was the mastermind behind it all. He was the visionary.

Of course with TLET you gotta give him props for bringing in Ron Carter to play the double bass. But also just bringing this encyclopedia of musical knowledge that Tip had. He taught us a lot about jazz, and opened up a lot of fans to discover it on their own because of the references on the album. The song “Jazz” itself is a celebration of that music. That influence was a big deal. But for the musicality of MM, I prefer that by a nose because of the intricacy of it.


 

Some of the samples from Midnight Marauders are just like magic tricks when you discover them.

 

Some of the samples from MM are just like magic tricks when you discover them. One of my favorite samples is on “Sucka Nigga.” When you hear the Busy Bee and Rodney Cee sample, and realize where that came from, and you hear how it’s slowed up, it’s incredible. It’s just so creative.

We did a whole segment in Beats, Rhymes & Life on the Minnie Riperton sample in “Lyrics To Go” because you couldn’t even hear it. But if they took it out you would definitely miss it. It’s done so seamlessly and it’s right in the pocket.

So for beats, I would have to go with the intricacies and creativity of MM. I would give a little bit of an edge to that. They’re done so well and so layered. It’s really like a collage of sounds.

Advantage: Midnight Marauders

The Low End Theory: 1 | Midnight Marauders: 2

Flows

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Flows

“Check The Rhime” is one of the last great two-handed, back-and-forth flows ever. In this day and age, there’s no more hip-hop groups. There’s not one influential hip-hop group right now. There hasn’t been one in a long time. There’s crews and all this stuff, but as far as like a group, a two-man group like an EPMD or Nice & Smooth, it doesn’t even exist anymore. “Check The Rhime” was really perfection. “You on point Phie?” “All the time Tip.” Back and forth, back and forth. It was an update on those old-school park jam type of routines—not like today, where it’s like, “Email me your verse, and I’ll put it in Pro-Tools.”


 

You can listen to The Low End Theory over and over and hear different things every time.

 

You can listen to TLET over and over and hear different things every time. You start to really appreciate the subtleties of they way they flow. On “Buggin Out” just the way Phife says “Yo,” before he says anything else. Llike, “Yo, microphone check 1, 2, what is this?” It’s monumental. Then later in the same song Tip has that line “Listen to the mission, listen miss as I do work—ummmm.”

But the flows on MM are crazy too. Look at “Award Tour,” the way they built that hook out of “Right? True.” Or the line where Tip says “Lyrically I’m Mario Andretti on the mo-mo, ludicrously speedy or infectious with the slow-mo.” And Phife’s spazzing out from the start: “Back in ’89 I simply slid in the place, Buddy Buddy Buddy all up in your face.” And on “Electric Relaxation,” that’s where they’re both killing it. “Honey, check it out, you got me mesmerized,” and then you hear Phife say, “I like them brown, yellow, Puerto Rican, or Haitian.” I’ve always liked that line.

This one is too hard. I would have to say it’s a tie. Quest has flows for days, and they always have. Like Phife says on “Butter”: “Deep down in my heart I knew that Flo was good to go.”

Advantage: None

The Low End Theory: 1.5 | Midnight Marauders: 2.5

Lyrics

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Lyrics

Every Tribe song has quotables. Starting with TLET, “Excursions” is lyrically a great song. On “Check The Rhime” Tip put out “Industry rule No. 4080,” which is still quoted and talked about today.

One of my favorite lines onis on “Oh My God,” Phife saying, “Mr. Energetic, who me sound pathetic, when’s the last time you heard a funky diabetic?” Just the idea of him calling himself that. The thing about Tribe was they were so regular and so vulnerable. That line was him really acknowledging the sickness he had that, later on, would really do a number on him—but doing it in such a fly way. Only in hip-hop would you call yourself the funky diabetic.


 

They were conscious, but it was so subtle, and that’s what made it so effective.

 

One song that I think is underrated lyrically is “Sucka Nigga.” Obviously, just the title of it is significant, what he’s saying, what he’s talking about, and how he does it. That consciousness was in Tribe on every album. They were conscious, but it was so subtle, and that’s what made it so effective.

When he says, “I do the figure eight,” and then he actually does it with his lyrics... I mean, if you listen to that song, and I’ve listened to it over and over, the rhyme pattern is so unique. He’s really an underrated emcee. I would have to call this one a dead heat too. Individually, both of them were great on both albums, and when they did songs together they were both great. So that one’s another draw.

Advantage: None

The Low End Theory: 2 | Midnight Marauders: 3

Guests

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Guests

When it comes to guest features, you have to give it to TLET hands down because of “Scenario.” That is the No. 1 all-time crew jam ever. That song actually took Busta Rhymes from being a part of Leaders of the New School and brought him to “Who is this guy?” status.

His lyrics, his energy, and the fact that he ended the song—no one can follow that. The song is 20 years old now and it’s still one of the best verses ever. What he did on that verse is still, to this day, unmatchable.


 

You can’t touch what "Scenario" did for hip-hop and what it did for Busta Rhymes.

 

Tribe never did that thing where you invite a hot guest in for a feature just to get a look on radio. So that’s not an issue. Every guest artist has to fit organically with the track.

Although Large Professor, Trugoy, and Busta show up on MM, you can’t touch “Scenario.” You can’t touch what that song did for hip-hop and you can’t touch what it did for Busta Rhymes’ career.

Advantage: The Low End Theory

The Low End Theory: 3 | Midnight Marauders: 3

Sequencing

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Sequencing

I’m going to go with MM, because of the tour guide. She kind of leads you from one song into the next, and says things that tip you off about where you’re going in the next song, like, “Did you know that the rate of A.I.D.S. in the Black & Hispanic community is rising at an alarming rate. Education is the proper means for slowing it down."

The tour guide sounds like a computer—somebody called her the “Hip-Hop HAL” after that talking computer in the movie 2001. But she was a real person and they digitized her voice. I tried to interview her for Beats Rhymes & Life, but we couldn’t find her. I think she was the secretary who worked at Jive, and the guys just liked her voice.


 

The tour guide was a secretary who worked at Jive, and the guys just liked her voice.

 

Those interludes were so unique and they made the whole album more cohesive. It’s one piece. That album is like Bitches Brew or A Love Supreme. It has different movements and sweeps to it.

As far as TLET, I know this is like sacrilegious to say, but if I was going to fast forward any songs, “The Infamous Date Rape” and “Everything Is Fair” are two songs that I remember fast forwarding. (I don’t want to cause a riot by saying that.) I wouldn’t put them on my Best Of playlist. But every song on MM I’d put on a Best Of Tribe.

Advantage: Midnight Marauders

The Low End Theory: 3 | Midnight Marauders: 4

Cover Art

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Cover Art

I have to give this one to MM, because of the inclusiveness. I think it was so hip-hop to include everybody. It was like A Tribe Called Quest was having a party and everyone was invited. There were three different versions with different people on them. You can collect ’em all and test your hip-hop I.Q. by playing “name that face.”


 

It was so hip-hop to include everybody. It was like A Tribe Called Quest was having a party and everyone was invited.

 

This is a tough call, because the cover of TLET is beautiful too: the color scheme, the use of sexuality in a classy way. It was inspired by an Ohio Players album cover. It looks like a painting, but it was actually a model and they took away her face. So that was a cool thing, but I think because the MM cover has been referenced and spoofed in different ways it edges TLET out, just by a little bit though.

I mean TLET is really iconic with the green, black, and red—and what those colors represent. And just the title, and the double meaning of it. Musically the low is the bass, but the name also means people from the bottom, from the low end of society, from the ghetto. So just a slight, slight edge to MM.

Advantage: Midnight Marauders

The Low End Theory: 3 | Midnight Marauders: 5

By The Numbers

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By The Numbers

TLET was released Sep 24, 1991, and certified gold Feb 19, 1992. Three years later it was certified platinum Feb 1, 1995—a month after MM reached that milestone.

The album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart (Nov 23, 1991) and No. 45 on the Billboard 200 (Oct 12, 1991). There were three singles released: “Check The Rhime” reached No.1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. “Jazz” peaked at No. 19 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. “Scenario” peaked at No. 6 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and No. 57 on the Hot 100.

MM was released Oct 12, 1993, and certified gold Jan 14, 1994. Almost a year later it was certified platinum Jan 11, 1995.


 

As influential as both albums are—and they’re two of the best albums of any genre—that didn’t translate into tremendous sales.

 

The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. There were three singles released: “Award Tour” peaked at No. 7 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, No. 28 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart, and No. 47 on the Hot 100 chart. “Electric Relaxation” peaked at No. 13 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and No. 65 on the Hot 100 chart. “Oh My God” peaked at #15 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.

One of the most ironic things about both of those albums is, as influential as they are—and they’re two of the best albums of any genre—that didn’t translate into tremendous sales. This was before the cat was out of the bag in hip hop, when, like, every album would go platinum. Bottom line: MM did better than TLET.

Advantage: Midnight Marauders

The Low End Theory: 3 | Midnight Marauders: 6

Impact

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Impact

There’s no question that both albums were very well received by fans, critics, and the hip-hop creative community as a whole.


 

Dre is on record talking about how the sound of TLET really got him through The Chronic.

 

One of the huge things that TLET did—and they weren’t the first to do it, but they were the first to do it the way they did—was blending hip hop and jazz. That was a big, big thing—and not just among so-called “alternative hip hop.”

Dr. Dre is on record talking about how the sound of TLET really got him through The Chronic. It’s one of his favorite albums and he’s talked about it a lot. Most people wouldn’t think of putting Tribe and Dre together, but that sound was very influential to him. So I’m going to give this category to TLET.

Advantage: The Low End Theory

The Low End Theory: 4 | Midnight Marauders: 6

Legacy

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Legacy

An interesting thing about the legacy is that MM came out the same day as Wu-Tang’s Enter The 36 Chambers. You can credit ?uestlove for giving me that little bit of information. It was a moment where hip-hop was charting a new course. Meanwhile TLET still sounds as fresh as it did 20 years ago—and its influence is still felt all these years later.


 

TLET still sounds as fresh as it did 20 years ago—and its influence is still felt.

 

I’ll say it again: Both TLET and MM are perfect, monumental works of art. Both of those albums have stood the test of time. Both of those albums went on to inspire many, many other artists. It’s hard to pick one over the other. I feel I’ve been fair picking a winner, but on this category I’ll have to call it a draw.

Advantage: None

The Low End Theory: 4.5 | Midnight Marauders: 6.5

Conclusion

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Conclusion

The bottom-line statement for why I would pick MM over TLET is, for me, that album is one unified entire piece. As cohesive and excellent as TLET is, every single song, every single moment, every single breath of MM is perfection. It is complete cohesion. Tribe reached their artistic pinnacle on that album.

The fact that they took it to the next level, and the fact that they had done it three times at that point... because I would put their first album, PITR, up there too. It’s like they three-peated. What it takes to do that, I have to go with Midnight Marauders. To raise the bar each time, to flip it each time, to grow and evolve each time, but to maintain the core of what made Tribe so great, that is no small feat. And that is why Midnight Maraudersis A Tribe Called Quest’s best album. End of discussion.

Advantage: Midnight Marauders

The Low End Theory: 4.5 | Midnight Marauders: 6.5

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