A Tribe Called Quest
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A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985, originally composed of rapper and main producer Q-Tip, rapper Phife Dawg, DJ and co-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and rapper Jarobi White. The group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip hop and merging jazz with hip hop, influencing numerous hip hop and R&B musicians.
A Tribe Called Quest performing in 2009. L–R: Jarobi White, Q-Tip, and Phife Dawg.
The neighborhood of St. Albans, Queens, where Q-Tip and Phife Dawg grew up together
Phife Dawg's breakout performance on The Low End Theory marked the beginning of the group's successful run in the 1990s.
Q-Tip's conversion to Islam in the mid-1990s influenced the philosophical direction of the group's music on Beats, Rhymes and Life.
Q-Tip (musician)
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Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and DJ. Nicknamed the Abstract, he is noted for his innovative jazz-influenced style of hip hop production and his philosophical, esoteric and introspective lyrical themes. He embarked on his music career in the late 1980s, as an MC and main producer of the influential alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. In the mid-1990s, he co-founded the production team The Ummah, followed by the release of his gold-certified solo debut Amplified in 1999. In the following decade, he released the Grammy Award-nominated album The Renaissance (2008) and the experimental album Kamaal the Abstract (2009).
Q-Tip in Washington, D.C.; 2008
Q-Tip performing with A Tribe Called Quest
Q-Tip at Fat Beats NYC 1999
Q-Tip and Amanda Diva at the "Manwomanboogie" video shoot in 2008