One of my Christmas gifts this year from my brother and his wife was the 33 1/3 book on A Tribe Called Quest’s People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.
I’m eager to dig into it, if only because I find it a curious selection from the Tribe catalog to write about. Not saying it’s not worthy, but it seems like Low End Theory was really the watershed album for Tribe (even though Midnight Marauders is my favorite).
That said, one of the great storytelling tracks in Tribe (hip-hop?) lore comes from that first album, I Left My Wallet in El Segundo. The video is charming, not just for its visual illustration of the tale but also for how it captures Tribe in a time capsule, from the group’s Afro-inspired wardrobe to a rare appearance by long lost fourth member Jarobi.
Ha, man, those outfits are ridiculous! I totally forgot when that stuff was popular. Curious as to why they filmed a video in the desert and not in El Segundo which is on the coast next to LAX.