Notes From D. R.

Today, the notion of hip-hop music as an art form is considered absurd, but one must keep in mind that this wasn’t always the case. In fact, a little over a decade and a half ago, one hip-hop album in particular garnered attention and acclaim for its fierce innovation, lyrical creativity, and good old-fashioned excellence.

The Low End Theory was the second album from the New York-based group A Tribe Called Quest, whose debut, 1990’s People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, joined the 1989 De La Soul CD 3 Feet High and Rising as welcome departures from the gangsta posturing, unrelenting misogyny, and anti-police militancy that defined hip-hop at the time. With Theory, Tribe not only fulfilled the promise suggested by Rhythm, they also set a standard that was apparently too high for most of their successors in hip-hop to live up to.

Quest members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad exhibit virtuosity on every track, from the dreamlike "Excursions" and the acerbic "Butter" (a hilarious condemnation of extreme female vanity) to the bleak urban-poverty chronicle "Everything Is Fair" and the bitter music-industry analysis "Show Business." The witty, sometimes mind-bending lyrics are complemented by sleek jazz notes; "Versus from the Abstract" features an outstanding contribution from the legendary Ron Carter.

Listening to Theory is equivalent to watching a film with a flawless script, world-class performances and impeccable direction. The CD works on every emotional level: the sheer joy of "Vibes and Stuff" and "Jazz (We’ve Got)," the paranoia of "Fair" and "The Infamous Date Rape," the high hilarity of "What?" and "Rap Promoter." There is not an ounce of fat on the album; Theory reveals Quest as a group that has succeeded in its endeavor for excellence.

The Low End Theory was a landmark achievement for hip-hop, and it’s regrettable that thug-rap outpaced it in terms of pop-culture influence. Quest managed to follow Theory with the equally excellent Midnight Marauders, and a handful of artists (most notably Digable Planets in their 1993 debut, Reachin’: A New Refutation of Time and Space) attempted to match Theory’s greatness, but by the late-1990s, thug-rap had become irreversibly dominant, and the so-called "jazz rap" phenomenon defined by Theory had been dismissed as a fad.

Perhaps if Theory had become the template for American hip-hop, the genre’s reputation wouldn’t be nearly as negative as it is now. The Tribe went on a Quest for quality, and achieved their goal in grand style. What would hip-hop be like today if more artists had decided to follow in their footsteps?