A Tribe Called Quest
Last month, Q-Tip announced that a final record from A Tribe Called Quest was on the way, featuring tracks recorded with co-founder Phife Dawg before his passing earlier this year. Speaking to the New York Times, Q-Tip and the other surviving members of Tribe (Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White) discuss the new record.
The album is titled We Got It From Here, Thank You For Your Service and slated to arrive next Friday, November 11. In addition to all four official members of the group, a variety of special guests appear on the record. They include Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Elton John, Jack White and longtime cohort Busta Rhymes.
Q-Tip said he and Phife spent a lot of time together mending their damaged friendship before any recording truly began. The entire album was recorded in Tip’s studio in New Jersey, and Phife flew between his home in Oakland and the east coast while making the album. Phife even found a clinic in the Jersey area where he could receive regular dialysis for his diabetes. However, Q-Tip told the paper he believes his late friend made the cross-country trips to ensure his relationships with the rest of the group were solid once again.
Busta Rhymes added that Tribe insisted the entirety of We Got It From Here, Thank You For Your Service had to be recorded in Tip’s home studio and no one was allowed to phone in their performance from elsewhere.
Pfife’s memory obviously hung over the entire process and Q-Tip told the Times, “It’s so hard for me to sit in there and hear his voice. Sometimes I just have to like take a break and walk away. It gets heavy. It doesn’t necessarily get sad, it just gets heavy. I literally feel the energy from him when I hear his voice.”
You can read the entire article here.
