These came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got ’em. Here’s what I said about them back then (with some minor editing):
One step forward and one look back. That’s what you get on this pair of discs from Q-Tip and hip-hop innovators A Tribe Called Quest, who disbanded earlier this year.
Like De La Soul, ATCQ blended mad skills with a kooky joy and exuberance missing from most of the stone-faced gangsta wannabes. Anthology pulls together the best tracks from their five- album catalog, including the Lou Reed-sampling groove of Can I Kick It? and I Left My Wallet In El Segundo, whose jazzy Latin guitar line taught Sugar Ray how to Fly. But while ATCQ may gone, rapper and main producer Q-Tip keeps their playful spirit alive on his first solo joint. With a smooth effortlessness, Tip lines up bouncy beats, quirky samples and funky melodies to shoulder his nerdishly nasal voice and laissez-faire delivery. Just like his hit single says, it’s a Vivrant Thing.
