Disco de A Tribe Called Quest: “People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths of Rhythm”

Do you remember when a little crew called the Native Tongues stepped onto the hip-hop scene? Sure you do. Do you remember the last group to drop a debut LP? Yep, it was A Tribe Called Quest. Did this LP change the face of hip-hop? Yes. Did this LP get the recognition it deserved? Nope. Does this LP have both strong lyrics and beats? Of course. Does this album have any hits? Yes, there's "Bonita Applebum", "Can I Kick It?", "Footprints", "Push It Along", "Description Of A Fool", etc. Are there any filler tracks? Not one. Is this album just as good as The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders? Damn right. When should you get this album? RIGHT NOW!

This CD is the first of the classic material put out by TRIBE . I must have single-handedly put at least every hip-hop fan I knew up on this cd in 90 . This group set the baseline for putting out good quality music . A tribe called quest " Best hip-hop group of all-time ".

This album is a definetly a timeless classic. Even up to this day I pump it in my stereo! They don't make rap music like that anymore. 'TRIBE' possessed a talent and an ability that very few rap artists have.Today, hip-hop can sometimes sound monotonous, but on this album 'instintive tavels' they showed the world that it's alright to be different;it's alright to'be off the beaten path'. When you listen to songs like 'FOOTPRINTS' and 'DESCRIPTION OF A FOOL' you can hear that they were educating the urban youths of that time (especially black youths as I was at the time) to love and stick by each other;to be proud; not to be engrossed in violence toward each other like so many of young black people today are in. This album is not just for black youths, it's for anyone who loves pure, unadulterated hip-hop, with a twist. That 'twist' is something that can't be explained, it's something they've mastered. Something they've unknowingly mastered.It's a talent they were born with. This album has an innocence and humor such as on the track 'BONITA APPLEBUM'in which the artist Q-TIP rhymes about escapades with the female persuasion, and yet there are songs like 'PUBLIC ENEMY'that put us back in check. And who can forget the classic 'Can I kick it.' I miss these guys! The group is not together anymore, but they are immortal through this album they left us and four others that are great as well. Thanx Q-tip, Phife, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi, for broadening our conciousness, giving us a fly beats and lyrics with substance and meaning!

Although this is a great album, don't buy it on vinyl from Amazon.

The records aren't pressed properly, so the first few seconds of songs start at the end of sides. In one case, "Can I Kick It", you hear the first few seconds of introduction, the talking "Can I Kick It" then the record ends, you put on the second record then the rest of the song continues!

I've just received my second copy of this from Amazon to replace an earlier version with problems, but it turns out that this isn't just a one off, it is a problem with all pressings that Amazon have.

The music's a four or five star, the vinyl pressing is terrible.

Late spring of '90, I was stationed in Panama and keeping up with the latest hip-hop was challenging down there. Luckily, select members of my unit deployed to Florida to assist some Army Reservists in a training event, and I was one of them. After a couple days there, I was walking around in our billeting area and I noticed this tape on a fellow Soldiers' cot with this unusually catchy cover. I picked it up and was like "Who in the hell is Tribe Called Quest?" The guy whose tape it was just said "listen to it". I put that tape in my Walkman (LOL!) and haven't been the same since. Listening to that tape of 'People's Instinctive Travels.." was like a cave man discovering fire during the ice age - He knew he was missing SOMETHING but didn't know what that SOMETHING was until it manifested. I immediately went out and bought the tape and in the words of Notorius BIG, "I let me tape rock till my tape popped!" Then went out and bought another one.

Well now I have this gem in CD and mp3 format so I don't have to worry about that anymore. Skip the comparisons to '3 Feet High', 'Low End', and 'Midnight'. 'People's Instinctive' was the elevation and natural forward progression of '3 Feet High' and I'm sure the Native Tongues don't see it as anything else. It laid the groundwork for 'Low End' and 'Midnight' - bottomline is they wouldn't be the classics they are without it. As a guy who has been following hip-hop continuously since 1977 I say to all true lovers of the genre not familar with Tribe Called Quest and to all hip-hop newcomers get this CD and experience the real essence of the urban innovation called hip-hop. Then get their next 2 CDs. You will not be disappointed because of all the groups over the years, no one captured that essence in its pure form better than A Tribe Called Quest.