Eighteen years after The Love Movement, A Tribe Called Quest announces the release of their final album.
Q-Tip uploaded a hand-written letter to Instagram yesterday (Oct. 27), letting fans know they immediately began working on new material after performing “Can I Kick It?” for the first time in 15 years on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonlast November. “So we got to it…it was coming together nicely,” penned The Abstract.
In spite of Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor’s untimely passing on March 22, Q-Tip wrote that the Five Foot Assassin “left us with the blue print of what we had to do.” The surviving members continued to “Push it Along,” teaming up with frequent collaborators and unofficial Tribesmen, Consequence and Busta Rhymes, to give fans their sixth and final album via Epic Records. Making a reference to their debut album, Q-Tip concludes “We will complete our paths of rhythm.”
The yet-to-be-titled album fulfills the six-album contract they signed in 1991. Its November 11 drop date is nearly 23 years to the day their magnum opus – and third album – Midnight Marauders. often referred to as one of the most important days in hip-hop history as the Wu-Tang Clan’s famed 36 Chambers was also released Nov. 9, 1993.
To help things come full circle, St and Linden Boulevard in Queens, NY will be officially renamed “Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way,” by the City of New York, one week after A Tribe Called Quest releases their final album.
Watch A Tribe Called Quest’s memorable performance on Jimmy Fallon below.
