The Low End Theory

尽管Ali Shaheed Mohammed(现已加入Lucy Pearl珍珠露西)坚称"我们当时并没有打算作出一张爵士Hip Hop专辑"，他和其它A Tribe Called Quest的伙伴确实献出一张根源自be-bop，并大量向爵士乐前辈作品取样的Hip Hop杰作《The Low End Theory》。50年代风格的萨克斯风吹奏，厚重阴沉的bass音线，搭上从深处共鸣的节拍，《The Low End Theory》揉合新旧音乐元素，组合成缺少主旋律，却充满音乐性的Hip Hop，散发出迷人的动感韵律。主音Q-Tip在此专辑里的表现，除了奶油般滑顺的rap嗓音令人陶醉，他的用韵方式更是趣味十足而满载诗味。探讨代沟的序曲“Excursions，”扯到Hip Hop语法规则的Check The Rhime都是此专辑的essential tracks。可惜的是，A Tribe Called Quest已在1998宣告解散，而Q-Tip也在1999推出他的单飞首辑《Amplified》。 这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第154位。 While most of the players in the jazz-rap movement never quite escaped the pasted-on qualities of their vintage samples, with The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest created one of the closest and most brilliant fusions of jazz atmosphere and hip-hop attitude ever recorded. The rapping by Q-Tip and Phife Dawg could be the smoothest of any rap record ever heard; the pair are so in tune with each other, they sound like flip sides of the same personality, fluidly trading off on rhymes, with the former earning his nickname (the Abstract) and Phife concerning himself with the more concrete issues of being young, gifted, and black. The trio also takes on the rap game with a pair of hard-hitting tracks: "Rap Promoter" and "Show Business," the latter a lyrical soundclash with Q-Tip and Phife plus Brand Nubian's Diamond D, Lord Jamar, and Sadat X. The woman problem gets investigated as well, on two realistic yet sensitive tracks, "Butter" and "The Infamous Date Rape." The productions behind these tracks aren't quite skeletal, but they're certainly not complex. Instead, Tribe weaves little more than a stand-up bass (sampled or, on one track, jazz luminary Ron Carter) and crisp, live-sounding drum programs with a few deftly placed samples or electric keyboards. It's a tribute to their unerring production sense that, with just those few tools, Tribe produced one of the best hip-hop albums in history, a record that sounds better with each listen. The Low End Theory is an unqualified success, the perfect marriage of intelligent, flowing raps to nuanced, groove-centered productions.