Quote:
Originally Posted by Jester
Yes, a LOT of rap rips off A Tribe Called Quest. Maybe they can be in a top 10, but I wouldn't say "without a doubt." I realize that they're very influential, but De La Soul comes first. Yes, I know, Rakim is dated. I said this; I agree. Rakim didn't only influence mainstream rap, man. Like I said, he basically invented modern lyrical technique.
De La Soul comes first because they did it first. A Tribe Called Quest is heavily influenced by them. De La Soul NOT unique? No, man. De La Soul was incredibly innovational. During their time, no one like that existed; rap was in a hardcore state of mind with acts like Public Enemy, etc. De La Soul flipped the game upside down with their jazzy and silly samples, goofiness and intelligent / colorful rhymes. They were one of the most, like, eclectic hip hop groups ever, they expanded heavily (especially on samples and style) - lots of people took after them. Including A Tribe Called Quest. De La Soul are the ones responsible for alternative rap, not ATCQ.
I really, REALLY like A Tribe Called Quest, and I'd put them in like... My top 15, man. They just don't surpass Rakim's influence (but they are MUCH more interesting and lasting), and De La Soul is miles ahead of them.
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If you want to do it based solely on when they started, Jungle Brothers were producing a fusion of jazz and hip hop before De La Soul or ATCQ, and their debut album
Straight out of the Jungle launched The Native Tongues Posse, where all of the early jazz rap stuff came from. The album was released in '88, a year before
3 Feet High and Rising. Really, ATCQ was eyed by Geffen Records in early 1989, and they made a 5 song demo for them which included a few of the tracks from
People's Instinctive Travels.... So they had already developed their sound and recorded part of their debut by the time De La Soul's first album came out. Also, ATCQ sort of formed in 1985, 2 years before De La Soul, but was just Q-Tip and Jarobi doing rap battles. They were originally called Crush Connection, then Quest, and didn't pick their full name until 1988, when Jungle Brothers gave it to them. So they actually did come first. And they were friends with Jungle Brothers before De La Soul was around. In all reality, though, Jungle Brothers, ATCQ, and De La Soul were essentially around making music together in The Native Tongue Posse at the same time, it's just that ATCQ took longer to release their new album.
So really, both bands are probably equally responsible for creating alternative rap, and in reality less so than The Jungle Brothers They were both trying to make chill, laid back nonsense music heavily influenced by jazz at the same time. And it's really quite sad that Rolling Stone once said De La Soul paved the way for the Jungle Brothers... can't forgive them for that.