After being nominated three times, A Tribe Called Quest became the 12th hip-hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On Saturday evening, October 19, in Cleveland, A Tribe Called Quest was officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Ozzy Osborne and more. The legendary hip-hop group was accompanied by a plethora of mounting hip-hop fellows and honored with solid tribute highlighting their most renowned hits, including performances by Queen Latifah, De La Soul, The Roots, Common, and Busta Rhymes.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame showcased a mini video production detailing the impact A Tribe Called Quest has had on hip-hop culture and beyond, including being among the earliest groups to popularize the inclusion of jazz, ultimately creating a unique lane in the hip-hop music genre branded under the Native Tongues posse.
The video tribute was followed by touching testimonies from their iconic contemporaries, including Miss Lauryn Hill, André 3000, Questlove, Pharrell Williams and more.
Dave Chappelle performed the honor of introducing the collective in style of a moving tribute speech, thanking the legendary hip-hop collective for their contributions to music and crediting them for bringing him back to television after his 12 year hiatus.
“Tribe, I want to thank you for your service,” said Chappelle. “What you’ve done for our culture means the world for me, but what you did for me that night changed my life, because that night you shared your platform with me and invited me to be on Saturday Night Live with you, and it brought me back to television after 12 years in the cold. And I will always, always be grateful for you.”
Q-Tip, along with fellow inaugural ATCQ member Jabori White, who was featured on the group’s 1990 debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, and left the group shortly after to pivot into a culinary arts career, took to the stage to accept the group’s profound accolade.
“This is crazy,” Q-Tip began before acknowledging fellow inductees including Dionne Warwick, whom the “Vibrant Thing” artist cited as a household staple; Peter Frampton, who he shared represented childhood memories with his sister; MC5; and Mary J. Blige, whom he acknowledged as his “kindred sister.” He went on to thank the families of ATCQ members, leading to an emotional recognition of the late ATCQ member, Phife Dawg. “Rest in peace to our brother Phife Dawg. I wish you were here,” he wistfully exclaimed. In place of the late emcee stood his parents, joined by the sister of member Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who did not attend the ceremony.
What came full circle was not only the presence of Phife Dawg’s parents, Shadeed’s sister, Jarobi, and Chappelle, but also the presence of hip-hop pioneer Kool DJ Red Alert.
Red Alert hosted the legendary Saturday night mixshow Red Alert Goes Berserk, which aired on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM, where he broke a wide range of Golden Era acts, forging a special tie with the Native Tongues, including an infant A Tribe Called Quest.
It was a proper line-up for their tribute performance featuring fellow Native Tongues members. With De La Soul’s DJ Maseo on the turntables, Queen Latifah led the medley, performing “Can I Kick It?” Posdnuos of De La Soul was joined by Black Thought of The Roots, who is considered an honorary member of the Native Tongues, as the collective is primarily composed of New York and New Jersey bound acts of hip-hop’s Golden Era, to perform “Check the Rhime.” Common, another honorary associate, took to the stage to perform the group’s classic, “Bonita Applebaum,” while Busta Rhymes, the once leading emcee of Leaders of the New School, also a member of the Native Tongues, concluded the tribute with his iconic “Scenario” bars.
A Tribe Called Quest’s Impact on Hip-Hop Culture
A Tribe Called Quest’s climax as grand contributors to hip-hop culture is credited to their harmonious use of jazz samples from musicians like Donald Byrd, Jimmy McGriff, Welton Irvine, and more, in conjunction with their acoustic incorporation of live instruments. This was a standout feature, particularly during the wee ‘90s dominance of gangsta rap, promoting equality and diversity within the hip-hop music genre.
In addition to their heightened jazz infusion, the collective was no stranger to incorporating bars that went beyond materialistic braggadocio. The collective was privy to what is often referred to as “Afrocentric” or rather, positively pro-black themes, as observed in some of their most revered tracks, including “Footprints” from their 1990 debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm;” “Excursions” off 1991’s The Low End Theory; “Steve Biko” from Midnight Marauders; and, in recent years, 2016’s “We the People….,” a bird’s eye critique of contemporary America.
The group has achieved moderate reach on the Billboard charts throughout the years. Their fourth album, Beats, Rhymes and Life, peaked at number one on both the then Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200 charts in 1996 and also achieved gold status by the RIAA the same year, going platinum the following year. Their debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, also went certified gold in 1996.
1998’s The Love Movement, an album that marks the collective’s disbandment, peaked at number three on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200 charts and went certified gold in the same year.
Their second album, The Low End Theory, went certified platinum in 1995, four years after its release.
A Tribe Called Quest’s induction into the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame comes after the legendary hip-hop group was nominated twice over two consecutive years. The group was first nominated in 2022, a second time in 2023, and once again in 2024, securing the victory on their third attempt.
A Tribe Called Quest is the 12th hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and represents the grand recognition of one of the most revered sectors of hip-hop’s diversity: the jazz infused afrocentric consciousness of hip-hop culture— a style that is sometimes overlooked in comparison to the bold, hardcore, flashy, and materialistic bound styles that have dominated the genre.
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