Analysis Of A Tribe Called Quest

Background:

The Space Program by A Tribe Called Quest is the first song off of the hip-hop group’s final album We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service. First released on November 11, 2016; the album came to much of a surprise of many considering the group’s history. A Tribe Called Quest consists of four members Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Q-Tip, and Jarobi. Together, they have released six full length albums totaling around six hours of content. The legendary hip-hop group finds its roots from the friendship of Jonathan Davis (Q-Tip) and Malik Taylor (Phife Dawg), who grew up together in Queens, New York. Q-tip would later meet Ali Shaheed in high school who became the groups DJ (Bush). Soon after meeting Ali, the group began

The hook, “(Move on to the stars) | There ain’t a space program for niggas | Yeah, you stuck here, nigga...” (A Tribe Called Quest), is repeated another three times and can be used to draw conclusions on the thought process that went into the song and its purpose. The hook is first alluding to the issue of gentrification in struggling african american communities. According to Jackelyn Hwang, Gentrification adversely affects african americans in poor communities more than any other ethnic group. In one example she gives, she states “Sometimes gentrification does affect areas with racial and ethnic diversity, but we saw little such change in Chicago neighborhoods where more than forty percent of residents were black. Only neighborhoods that were at least 35 percent white continued to gentrify after 1995.” (Hwang). So,“The Space Program” is partly referring to government policies on living ‘space’ in which throughout American history have discriminated against blacks. This theme is reinforced in the next line where Q-Tip states “Move out your neighbourhood, did they find you a home? Nah cypher, probably no place to…” (A Tribe Called

speech in which MLK criticizes the United States’ involvement in vietnam and the current space race with russia. In the speech he says “If our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God’s children on their own two feet right here on earth.” (King). Phife, Q-Tip, and Jarobi are saying that there is no space program for African Americans in the United States. There's no major program for black people that helps them progress into a brighter future. “Move on to the stars!” is followed by the Tribe seemingly snapping back with the line “There ain’t a space program for niggas | Yeah, you stuck here, nigga...”, it is here that the Tribe paints a harsh reality for blacks in our current society.

Conclusion:

In summation, The Space Program by A Tribe Called Quest is an introspective look into the modern day lives of african americans and a cry for action to help create change. Through metaphors and double entendres Phife, Q-Tip, and Jarobi examine and put into perspective the unlawful discriminatory government policies and attitudes tacked onto minority groups within the U.S. and further shed light onto the struggles of growing up in poor inner-city communities. Their art is a rightful bashing of the American system and a testament to an angry