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'Go Ahead in the Rain' Artfully Melds the Many Parts of a Tribe Called Quest's Backstory

In Go Ahead in the Rain, Hanif Abdurraqib blends his talents as both culture critic and personal essayist for a meditation on perhaps the most influential hip-hop group from the genre's sample-laden boom-bap era, A Tribe Called Quest.

Books

The Midnight Hour: Orchestral Groovers in the Dark

The Midnight Hour, a jazzy collaboration between Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, made their live debut at the McKittrick Hotel.

Music

Say It Loud! 100 Great Protest Songs: Part 5 - Bright Eyes to Childish Gambino

PopMatters has scoured the musical spectrum for the best examples of the protest song form, including anthems of great popularity and obscurity alike. Our list concludes today with the most recent examples of important protest music.

Music

The Musical Atmosphere in BigYuki's 'Reaching for Chiron'

The jazz/hip-hop/electronica of keyboardist BigYuki—featured on the last Tribe Called Quest album—is a true hybrid that, surprisingly, contains more Louis Armstrong that you might think.

Music

Culture and History for the Age of Trump

History doesn’t always tell us how to get it right. It sometimes warns us of the cost of getting it wrong. Art steeped in that history can remind us, if we’re paying attention.

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Brotherhood of the Traveling Parachute Pants

Like lattés, Baby Bjørns, and bicycles, we bookish white boys love hip-hop. What one nerdy white boy from Wyoming learned from hip-hop.

Chris Kjorness

Music

10 Standout Hip-Hop Tracks from 1991

As a complement to PopMatters' "Nevermind Nostalgia" retrospective on music in 1991, Sound Affects takes at look at a partial selection of the year's hip-hop highlights that lean more towards beats production than the era’s increasingly popular gangsta genre.

Music

Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

It's the sort of drama that Tribe fans know too well. If the group mattered so much once, it is also, now, as legendary for its breakups as for its work.

Reviews

Tribeca Film Festival 2011: 'Beats, Rhymes & Life' and 'Let the Bullets Fly'

At Tribeca, Michael Rapaport’s phenomenal A Tribe Called Quest documentary gets a rousing reception and the new Chow Yun-Fat action flick baffles as much as it thrills.

Film

Hip-Hop Storytellers: The Vignette

"That story is over, but my rhyme ain't done." Vignettes are important tools in hip-hop's rich and plentiful storytelling tradition.

Music

These Are the Breaks: The Motown Sound's Influence on Hip-Hop Sampling

For any influential group in the hip-hop game, specifically in the early 1990s, Motown's stamp of approval and its variety of subsidiaries were undeniably influential.

Music

We Don't Die, We Multiply: Hip-Hop Groups

Group identification creates interesting scenarios within hip-hop culture, from the formation and maintenance of group identity to the difficulties of promoting the lyrical skills of a group's various members.

Music

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The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

Josh Trank's Comic Book Film 'Fantastic Four' Could Have Been a Kitschy Splendor

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'Go Ahead in the Rain' Artfully Melds the Many Parts of a Tribe Called Quest's Backstory

In Go Ahead in the Rain, Hanif Abdurraqib blends his talents as both culture critic and personal essayist for a meditation on perhaps the most influential hip-hop group from the genre's sample-laden boom-bap era, A Tribe Called Quest.

The Midnight Hour: Orchestral Groovers in the Dark

The Midnight Hour, a jazzy collaboration between Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, made their live debut at the McKittrick Hotel.

The Musical Atmosphere in BigYuki's 'Reaching for Chiron'

The jazz/hip-hop/electronica of keyboardist BigYuki—featured on the last Tribe Called Quest album—is a true hybrid that, surprisingly, contains more Louis Armstrong that you might think.

Culture and History for the Age of Trump

History doesn’t always tell us how to get it right. It sometimes warns us of the cost of getting it wrong. Art steeped in that history can remind us, if we’re paying attention.

Brotherhood of the Traveling Parachute Pants

Like lattés, Baby Bjørns, and bicycles, we bookish white boys love hip-hop. What one nerdy white boy from Wyoming learned from hip-hop.

The Quest to Understand Tribe

This is supposed to be a documentary, not a fan letter. So how about some balance? It's big picture time when it comes to telling the story of hip-hop.

Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

It's the sort of drama that Tribe fans know too well. If the group mattered so much once, it is also, now, as legendary for its breakups as for its work.

Tribeca Film Festival 2011: 'Beats, Rhymes & Life' and 'Let the Bullets Fly'

At Tribeca, Michael Rapaport’s phenomenal A Tribe Called Quest documentary gets a rousing reception and the new Chow Yun-Fat action flick baffles as much as it thrills.

Hip-Hop Storytellers: The Vignette

"That story is over, but my rhyme ain't done." Vignettes are important tools in hip-hop's rich and plentiful storytelling tradition.

These Are the Breaks: The Motown Sound's Influence on Hip-Hop Sampling

For any influential group in the hip-hop game, specifically in the early 1990s, Motown's stamp of approval and its variety of subsidiaries were undeniably influential.

We Don't Die, We Multiply: Hip-Hop Groups

Group identification creates interesting scenarios within hip-hop culture, from the formation and maintenance of group identity to the difficulties of promoting the lyrical skills of a group's various members.

A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory

Blues-Cruising Samantha Fish Takes Joy Ride of Her Life on 'Kill or Be Kind' (album premiere + interview)

Liam Gallagher Shows His Vulnerable Side on 'Why Me? Why Not.'

Slayyyter's Love For 'Blackout' Era Britney Spears Informs Her Debut Mixtape

'Ad Astra' Says Goodbye to the Great White God

Sonic Youth Founder Thurston Moore Asks Why a Song Can't Be an Hour Long

Josh Trank's Comic Book Film 'Fantastic Four' Could Have Been a Kitschy Splendor

British Electronic Duo Brook Release Debut 'Built You for Thought' (album stream) (premiere)

Norwegian/Welsh Duo Firewoodisland Deliver Exquisite Chamber Pop Positivity on "Hollow Coves" (premiere)

Blues-Cruising Samantha Fish Takes Joy Ride of Her Life on 'Kill or Be Kind' (album premiere + interview)

Costa Rica's Las Robertas Celebrate the "Thunder Rider" (premiere)

HEAZZA Delivers a Soulful, Transformative Performance on "The Dark" (premiere + interview)

Timelost Give Marilyn Manson's "Cryptorchid" a New Lease on Life (premiere + interview)

Justin Wade Tam Goes Outside His Humming House to Reveal "Colors of My Mind" (premiere + interview)

Experimental Ensemble Thor & Friends Share Latest Video "As Above So Below" (premiere)

Ley Line Blends Brazilian, West African, and North American Folk Traditions on "Oxum" (premiere)