A Tribe Called Quest: Song Analysis

A Tribe Called Quest: Low End Theory

Band members: Ron Carter (bass), Ali Shaheed Muhammad (DJ), Phife Dawg (vocals), Q-Tip (vocals), Busta Rhymes (vocals), Charlie Brown (vocals), Diamond D (vocals), Dinco D (vocals), Lord Jamar (vocals), Sadat X (vocals), Bryan Higgins (vocals), and James Jackson (vocals).

Track 1 (“Excursion”): This song began with the bass guitar. The vocals started at 0:14, which intrigued me. The words seemed to have deep meaning to the vocalist. In particular, “get in the zone of positivity” was uplifting because of the area in which these people might have grown up. The only thing I disliked about this track was the monotone voice of the vocalist. Starting at 3:26 there was what sounded like a saxophone group imitating each other. At 3:46 there

The lyrics started at 0:25 and were quite amusing until the “on point” section. This section began at 1:20. After that there was an interesting lyric that stated Phife Dawg was 5 foot 3 inches. I decided to do some research and found out that yes, he is 5 foot 3 inches. At 1:46, the “check the rhime” section got a little annoying. Sadly, the song ended abruptly and did not give much closure. Overall, I felt like this song was focused on the characteristics of the vocalists, Phife Dawg and Q-Tip, and showed their humanity. I did not really enjoy this song.
Track 12 (“SkyPager”): The song began with an introduction that lasts ten seconds. The real lyrics started at 0:10. I was really confused about this song. There were short intermissions of a computerized female voice talking about the “SkyPager.” I had wondered if the SkyPager actually paged the rapper’s imaginary people in the sky, or if it was actually a brand of pager. Sadly, I think it was used to reference some type of problem in the inner cities. Overall, I did not appreciate this song and will not listen to it