A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders (Vinyl LP)

Third and last of the "classic" Tribe records, Midnight Marauders is arguably the group's most musically sophisticated album. The tracks balance jazz, soul, and even reggae influences with pure hip-hop to arrive at a completely distinctive Tribe sound, the logical evolution of the bop-inflected hooks which characterised Low End Theory.

Production-wise, Tribe graduates from a cool school aesthetic to an electric jazz sound (reminiscent of fusion-era Miles Davis). Lyrically Midnight Marauders finds the group's abstract poetics in excellent form as usual, and Phife is miles ahead of the Mayor-Flavour rhymes of "Can I Kick It".

1. Midnight Marauders Tour Guide 
2. Steve Biko (Stir It Up) 
3. Award Tour 
4. 8 Million Stories 
5. Sucka Nigga 
6. Midnight 
7. We Can Get Down 
8. Electric Relaxation 
9. Clap Your Hands 
10. Oh My God 
11. Keep It Rollin' 
12. The Chase, Part II 
13. Lyrics To Go 
14. God Lives Through