Beats, Rhymes and Life is the fourth studio album by A Tribe Called Quest, released on July 30, 1996, by Jive Records. It was their first album since the release of Midnight Marauders three years earlier, and is notable for being the album that debuted their new production crew "The Ummah", which included then-fledgling Detroit producer J Dilla, then still known as Jay Dee.
Unfortunately, the album is also infamous for being the start of the Tribe's internal fracturing, which eventually led to them disbanding a couple years later.
After Midnight Marauders, each of the group's members had mostly gone on their own way: Phife Dawg had moved to Atlanta after recording, and felt that the group had more or less ran its course, and Ali Shaheed and Q-Tip spent their time producing and remixing for other groups, and Tip would also convert to Islam during this period. During the 1994 Lollapalooza tour, Q-Tip would meet J Dilla through Dilla's mentor and P-Funk alumni Amp Fiddler. Through Q-Tip, Dilla would link up with The Pharcyde, and produce the bulk of their sophomore release, Labcabincalifornia, before joining the Ummah with Tip and Shaheed.
By the time Jive came calling for another album, things had changed dramatically inside and outside the group. The most obvious change was the rap scene: The infamous East-West coast feud was reaching its highest point of intensity, and the Tribe had been inadvertently caught up in the middle of it. During the 1994 Source Awards, Tupac Shakur had interrupted the group's acceptance speech for "Group of the Year" by performing his song "Out on Bail". The Tribe was ready to beat the crap out of Pac onstage for the apparent disrespect, but, as Busta Rhymes revealed years later, there was a miscue backstage, and Pac had apologized for it; ending the brief feud. Another incident was when both MC Hammer and supergroup Westside Connection attacked Tip over apparent anti-West Coast comments he made during a freestyle, which he denied. Another issue was Jive's gradual shift away from rap and R&B music. Initially an early champion of the genres, Jive had begun shifting towards bubblegum pop acts after the runaway success of both *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. As a result, many urban acts on the label either left, got dropped, or, as was the case with Tribe, dealt with even more Executive Meddling.
But the biggest source of friction came from within the group itself. Due to Q-Tip's insistence on recording together, Phife would often fly from Atlanta to New York for sessions, only to find out they were cancelled at the last minute. And when there were sessions going on, the creative schism between members was evident. Phife later admitted he often felt like the odd man out, since Tip and Shaheed were both Muslims, giving them a closer bond with each other that he lacked. Not helping things was Consequence, Q-Tip's younger cousin, being brought in as an unofficial fourth member. While Consequence wasn't an unknown to the group, having been on an "The Chase Pt. II" remix
a couple years prior, he was featured on more than half the album, and even completely bumped Phife off one track entirely, causing the schism to grow. Q-Tip, in hindsight, also felt that his conversion to Islam made the atmosphere more serious than prior album sessions.
All of these factors ultimately led to the album having a more serious and dark vibe than their prior output, though the group's signature playful, positive side didn't disappear entirely. Lyrically, the group took a more spiritual and philosophical approach than before, while still kicking some fun party jams, and maintaining neutrality in the East-West Coast feud. Production-wise, J Dilla's spacey, soulful beats would influence the sonic direction of the album, resulting in a stripped-back, jazzy minimalist sound reminiscent of The Low End Theory, but with a smoother R&B influence.
On release, Beats, Rhymes and Life debuted at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1998, becoming the group's most commercially successful album. However, while critics were mostly positive, many fans were put off about the group's darker direction, Consequence's presence, and the album's sleeker production compared to their first three. Over time, fan reception to the album became more positive, and J Dilla's production contributions would become influential among his peers and later generations of producers.
Tracklist:
- "Phony Rappers" (3:35)
- "Get A Hold" (3:35)
- "Motivators" (3:20)
- "Jam" (4:38)
- "Crew" (1:58)
- "The Pressure" (3:02)
- "1nce Again" (3:49)
- "Mind Power" (3:55)
- "The Hop" (3:27)
- "Keeping It Moving" (3:38)
- "Baby Phife's Return" (3:18)
- "Separate / Together" (1:38)
- "What Really Goes On" (3:23)
- "Word Play" (2:59)
- "Stressed Out" (4:57)
- "Stressed Out (Baby Phife Version)" (4:48) (Japan bonus track)
Tropes, Examples, and Life:
- Battle Rapping: The first two verses of "Phony Rappers" deal with Tip and Phife being fronted on by wannabe amateur rappers who thought they were better than them, and challenged them to battle on the spot. The end results ain't pretty.
- Call-Back: Phife and Tip's call-and-response intro on "1nce Again" is a lyrical call-back to a similar verse done on their 1991 classic "Check the Rhime".
- Crime of Passion: This is the central crux of the track "Crew", wherein Q-Tip catches his best friend making out with his wife, and guns him down in blind rage almost immediately.
- Insult Friendly Fire: Q-Tip makes it clear on the first verse of "Keeping It Moving" that he appreciates the west coast, had no intentions of dissing them in his 1995 freestyle; and that any west coast rapper who took offense got his words twisted. This is reiterated by him shouting out several west coast rappers at the end of the song."Let me let y'all brothas know, I ain't no West Coast disser,
Another thing I'm not is a damn ass kisser
So listen to my words as I set things straight,
I ain't got no beef, so don't come in my face." - Jazz Rap: While retaining the jazz-slanted spirit of the group's first three albums, it took on a sleeker, more R&B-infused sound, thanks to the influence of J Dilla. This sound would continue in a more evolved form on The Love Movement.
- Music Is Politics: Not as prevalent as it was on The Low End Theory, but it's brought up on some songs, particularly "Get A Hold", where Q-Tip claims Jive "be on some true jerk shit." Out of universe, Jive had pivoted from focusing on rap and R&B, and moved towards focusing on pop music during the album's creation, which caused headaches for the Tribe and several other rap acts signed to the label.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Stressed Out", which encourages the listener to not lose hope in the face of life's stresses and adversities.
- Record Producer: This was the first album to introduce the Tribe's production team, The Ummah. Ali Shaheed, Q-Tip, and J Dilla were the core members of the team, and would later expand to include D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq as occasional contributors. Producer Rashad Smith also contributed the beat for "The Hop". Outside of a small handful of tracks on their first three albums, and We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service (due to Ali Shaheed being unavailable), This album and The Love Movement are the only Tribe albums not to be produced exclusively by Tip and Shaheed.
- Regional Bonus: Japanese pressings of the album include a remix of "Stressed Out", which uses a verse from Phife Dawg that was cut from the album mix.
- Special Guest: Consequence is technically supposed to be this, but because he appears on the majority of the album, he almost feels like a fourth memeber of Tribe. Tammy Lucas and Faith Evans, who also appear on the album, play this straighter, only appearing on their respective tracks.
- Two-Timing with the Bestie: The central crux of "Crew", where Q-Tip catches one of his closest friends making out with his wife. Despite briefly stewing over whether or not he should resolve the situation peacefully to avoid a jail bid, Tip's emotions get the best of him, and he guns down his now-ex friend in a crime of passion after confronting him.
