Robbed Hit of the Week 3/25/19 - A Tribe Called Quest's "Award Tour"...
from the album Midnight Marauders (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #47
This week's "robbed hit" comes from the alternative-hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, who came together in Queens, New York with rappers Q-Tip (Kamaal Fareed), Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and Jarobi White along with DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. After being featured by rap group the Jungle Brothers ("I'll House You") on their album, the foursome eventually found themselves on Jive Records to record their debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths Of Rhythm. With a sound unlike anything else in hip-hop at that time, with samples coming from records as well as from real life, the set was slow to catch the attention of urban radio, even though fans were sending it up to the top half of the album sales charts. Debut single "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo", a comical story-song that rolled out like a movie script, scored the group their first top ten hit on the Rap Singles chart in Billboard magazine, peaking at #9. That was followed by "Bonita Applebum", which not only went to #4 on the Rap Singles chart in 1990, it was their first to hit the proper R&B list in Billboard at #56, while also becoming a minor hit in the UK at #47. The third release from the record, the Lou Reed-sampling "Can I Kick It?" gave them a hat trick of top ten rap singles at #8, while landing all the way up at #15 in the UK, and giving the group their first hit in the Netherlands at #13. But by that time, Jarobi had left the group.
The trio of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Muhammad returned in 1991 with their sophomore effort The Low End Theory. Chosen by many to be their best album (it made the Rolling Stone magazine top 500 albums of the rock era list), the lead single "Check The Rhime" put them on top of the Rap Singles chart for their first and only time, while making it to #59 on the R&B chart. But the third release from the record would be their "gamechanging" hit. "Scenario", which introduced America to a rapper named Busta Rhymes, nearly made the R&B top-40 at #42, while landing the trio their first "pop" hit on the Hot 100 at #57 in 1992. The album went platinum (sold over a million copies) and peaked under the top-40 at #45, and with that growing popularity, as well as the exposure in the movies Boomerang, where their soundtrack contribution "Hot Sex" slipped in at #99 on the R&B chart, and Poetic Justice, where Q-Tip had an acting part in, the group's fortunes were on an upwards trajectory preparing for their next release.
That next disco, Midnight Marauders, ended up becoming their first top ten album at #8 in 1993. The first single from the record, "Award Tour", was a city name-checking bouncer that featured fellow "Native Tongues" rapper Trugoy from the trio De La Soul. It would becoming the Tribe's biggest hit to date...
While "Award Tour" awarded A Tribe Called Quest their first and highest-charting hit on the R&B chart at #27, the song stopped just short of the pop Top-40 at #47. On the Rap Singles list, it peaked at #7, while on the Dance Club Play list, it was their sole charting hit at #27. Second release "Electric Relaxation (Relax Yourself Girl)" climbed to #38 on the R&B chart while peaking at #65 on the pop chart in America. Lastly, the track "Oh My God" slipped to #69 on the R&B tally, "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100, while returning them to the British chart at #81.
By the time they returned with their fourth studio album Beats, Rhymes & Life, the Tribe were at the pinnacle of their success, scoring their first #1 album. But the brewing feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers (2Pac notoriously pushed the group out of the way collecting an award) was taking a toll on their livelihood as well as the attendance. Lead track "1nce Again" landed them back in the R&B top-40 at #38 as well as in Britain at #34 with two Grammy nominations for best rap album (losing to the Fugees' The Score) and Best Duo/Group Rap Performance which was claimed by Bone Thugs' and Harmony's #1 pop hit "Tha Crossroadz". But with the album sporting a darker note, it signaled an extension of the chart doldrums. A second track, "Stressed Out" featuring Faith Evans, rose to #56 on the R&B chart at #33 in the UK (it "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100 at #108).
Three years later, Q-Tip, Phife, and Ali Muhammad came back with their fifth effort The Love Movement, which they announced would be their last. Peaking at #2 on the Album Chart, the lead single "Find A Way", made it to #29 on the R&B chart at #71 pop, and stopped one notch below the top-40 at #41. The trio broke up then, only to reappear in 2003 as a guest on Erykah Badu's single "I C U (Doin' It)" which went to #89 on the R&B list.
After a break of eight years, Q-Tip, Phife, Muhammad, and Jacobi White reunited to start recording new material for an album. However Phife Dawg died in March of 2016 after dealing with diabetes, leaving the other members to finish We Got It From Here...Thank You For Your Service with a slew of guest artists. The album would be their second #1 set, while single "We The People..." hit #31 on the R&B chart and #71 on Billboard's pop Hot 100. An appearance at the Grammys with that song is said to be the act's final farewell.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's the Tribe appearing live on Arsenio Hall to perform "Award Tour"...
Here's Q-Tip doing it solo live in 2008...
and a special reunited performance in 2010 with "Award Tour" and "Oh My God"...
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