The Low End Theory

Not a big fan of hip hop, but this was pretty good. 3 stars.

"The Low End Theory" is the second album from the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest released in 1991. The music is alternative hip-hop or jazz rap, where it contains minimalist sound to bring attention to the word play of the lyrics. This album has been credited as one of the greatest alternative hip-hop albums ever and has been certified platinum in the US. The album did a great job of fusing jazz / bepop and hip-hop, while allowing the groups' dynamics to shine through the humorous, word play commentary in the rap lyrics. I loved how the album's music was stripped down to essentially just vocals, drums, and bass. It gave the music and rapping more impact for me to hang onto. The laid back sound was something new for me to hear from the early golden years of hip-hop, and I found myself really enjoying its flow. I do agree with reviews that this may be the greatest hip-hop album ever. I cannot praise this album anymore then what has already been said by critics, but this is the first time I heard of this album or the group and I think it was amazing! I'll have to give it another listen again soon.

Enjoyed but wouldn’t listen again

Good

Solid effort from one the best rap groups of the early 90s.

I'm definitely a late 80s/early 90s rap & hip hop fan rather than anything after

Enjoyable album, good

I enjoyed this and would like to return to it!

Pretty good, every song carries weight

This is the second recommendation I've received from this list from A Tribe Called Quest. Listening to this album felt a lot like the previous album. There are interesting and enjoyable tracks, but I'm not sure if I'll remember this album enough to want to come back for a second listen. "Show Business" was a familiar track, and had a good sound. "Scenario" with Busta Rhymes was entertaining too. Unfortunately, there are lyrics and on these and other tracks that would make me skip the tracks on a second listen. For one listen, the album gets a 3. If I had to play the album again - 2 stars.

Mostly jazz-sample backed rap. Lots of good tracks, it a bit repetitive after a bit. Still, taking rap in an interesting direction.

Smooth, listenable and chilled hip hop. Works for me as BG music but I can't remember any tracks after a couple of listens

An attempt at a jazz-hop-fusion album. Quite okay. (6/10) FT: Buggin' Out, Check the Rhime

I could see myself listening to this, on the right day, while I'm in the right mood. Not bad

Wasn't feeling it.

good enough

Listened

3.5

Boring. Beat with rap over it. No melodies, it's just all the same.The best thing I can say is that it doesn't have quite as much swearing as most rap. Also it's intelligible - so all in all, it's the best rap album we've had so far.

Old school. A bit boring. Does not pass the test of time. For hip hop historians.

not my style but mmh!

slouches along amiably enough for the first half, kicks it up a notch for the second. low end indeed

Þétt old school rap. Ekki alveg minn tebolli en hélt mér samt við efnið

Funky groove but pretty basic lyrics. Overall Album sounds the same from start to finish.

Great vibe but suffers from being too one note. Scenario is the only song that stands out as being different on this album.

classic

Erstes Drittel edieses ikonischen Hiphop Albums wirkt wie die vielfache Variation des Gleichen. Brat-, Pell-, Stampfkartoffeln, Reibekuchen, Kroketten und Klöße stammen auch vom Erdapfel, bieten jedoch mehr Variation als die ersten 4 Tracks. Erst nach Beigabe von „Butter“ wird’s leckerer…sonst fehlt es oft an würzigen Samples wie dort und hier („Verses…“ & „Vibes…“). Fade 2.8

Vermeintlich freundlich-funky-er early Nineties HipHop aus der Golden Era. Natürlich nicht nur freundlich, sondern auch super edgy und conscious. Das alles weiß ich natürlich noch von früher, aus den Neunzigern. Hat sich nichts dran geändert nach erneutem Hören nach langer Zeit. Produktion absolut on Top, klingt leider trotzdem dated, weil: naja, HipHop heute, ihr wisst schon. Ich begehe den Fehler und achte schon wieder kaum auf Lyrics, geht also die ganze Consciousness verloren und übrig bleiben Q-Tip und Phife und die warmen, lässigen jazzigen Soundscapes. Gefällt mir 3,49.

Jazzy, swinging - a fair amount of double bass providing the low end. lovely flow to the raps

Rap relativamente sosegado con ritmos propios del estilo y sin destacar especialmente. Muy del estilo definido

Old school rap

Bass and drum heavy. I like this but it seems not that big of a deal. But, it was the first of its kind so that’s what makes it groundbreaking

// Favs: – Score: Light 3

Not my genre, nice beats. Some of the lyrics really hit me, I needed to save some songs. Great piece of history.

Excellent album, really liked it.

Always thought this was the ATCQ number one record…. Just not as good as peoples instinctive travels. Not bad though!

Enjoyed this one as a hip hop album which isn't normally my favourite genre, some good beats and lyrics. Could definitely see this paving the way for 90s hip hop.

It's obvious that if there's a "hole in my game", it's with hip-hop. It's probably my least listened to genre. But doing this list every day has at least allowed me to experience a lot of it. It may never be my jam, but I can at least appreciate the albums I've listened to on this list. My hunch is I'll listen to certain songs on playlists and not the albums again. This is different hip-hop from what I've had so far on the list. Not a lot of danceable songs here, and tends to sound more like relatable background music. Also: no swear words! Not that they're necessary, just worth mentioning as something that is different from others in the same genre. It's decent enough. But I spent some time listening with the dreaded "meh" word coming to mind. Definitely belongs on the list, but I put it behind entries I've heard by Public Enemy, Missy Elliot and (my favorite, although some wouldn't call her hip hop) Nenah Cherry.

good stuff

Dope

interesting style of music, but really meant for new yorkers, and i don't understand hip-hop

Not my style

It’s something I would probably never listen to, but I really enjoyed it. It’s got some fun songs here and there. You can definitely see how they influenced some of the newer hip hop and rap.

Strong beats, flow and samples but wasn’t as convinced by all of the lyrics. Fun album but prefer a little more message or theme from the early nineties. Enjoyed scenario and check the rhime.

Verses from the Abstract was the track that pulled me into the album. Show Business pulled me back out. I think if I had heard this in 91 or even the 90s it would hit certain nostalgic tones. But hearing it for the first time 20 years later I'm finding the rhyming and beats dated.

I have their greatest hits. And I think that's better than their individual albums. Some nice tracks but then a lot of forgettable ones. Plus it seems like they made no effort to make a cohesive album. Just random songs strung together.

very old school rap when the horns come in ... the delivery is great funky beat in deed very cohesive (so danger : repetitive) 3

Cet album etant ni plus ni moins qu'un copié collé niveau qualité et intérêt de ma part de Fishscale de Ghostface Killah, je vais me contenter de copier coller ma review: c'etait pas nul, c'etait pas particulièrement bien non plus. Un album à très vite oublier, il faut se reconcentrer sur le prochain match

A pesar de que no me gusta el rap, me gustó el disco. Tiene buenos temas, aunque se me hace algo "pesado" a la larga. Nota: 3.5

No me gusta mucho el hip hip, pero el álbum es bueno

The beats were my favourite thing in this record. The lyrics are fun and clever most of the time. But I'm not a fan of some the rapping in here; in my opinion it's what makes this album feel kind of flat. Still, I think that this is a great album to get introduced to hip.hop. I read somewhere that this is an album even your mom would like, and that's probably right at least for a couple of tracks.

Meh. I can see the appeal (and why it's called The Low End Theory!), but not for me.

- great fro background listening, sounds like one long song

All the windows down for this album.

.

Classic rap with jazz influences

I like this out of the gate. Good old school rap. Good beats. Good vocal. And then it feels a bit like Groundhog Day - didn’t they already play this song? And then it feels a bit like Groundhog Day - didn’t they already play this song? I’m not a lyrics focused person, so even after two listening, I didn’t catch much of the content, so I’m guessing there is good substance there that I missed. More blood. More chocolate. The Elton Costello 90s rap album.

FT: Scenario

5.5

Highlight: Butter Big bumpin' ensemble hip-hop rap that sounds unmistakably 90's, but still echos in modern hip-hop. It's interesting to hear the roots of so many sounds.

funky which I liked

Hip Hop

Hip-hop. Ni fu ni fa

It's fine. It's not the best rap album but there's nothing too bad about it other than being slower, more rhythmic rap you see in the earlier years. It's dated for sure too.

I'm kinda a fan of older rap like this.

Early on I was interested in this album, but as it went on it started to feel a little more like a stereotype of '90's hip hop. My guess is that's probably because of how quintessential this is, but I can't be sure. Thought it was interesting there were so many songs disrespecting women, but also an entire song condemning date rape culture (which also inlcuded casual sex jokes?) quite a mix! I think there are clearly songs I'd like to listen to again, but not an album I'd want to spin all the way through.

Not a big rap fan, this has a solid feel and well crafted lyrics.

Está de 3.999999

The same beat for the entire album gets old fast

Pretty good hip-hop album

Good stuff.

Definitely an acquired taste. Need to explore it more, expect I will enjoy it.

What I heard I enjoyed. Chilled hip hop.

Couldn't kick it but was aight

Fav Song: Vibes and Stuff

Surprisingly enjoyable. I remember back when this was released thinking that the singles were kinda bland. It all works much better as a full album though, and there are lots of fun jazz samples. Highlights include: Show Business What?

good vibe and flow

not my jam, some swearing, but overall not bad

Enormously influential in its day, but just sounds stale and dull today. In the same genre, Blowout Comb is a vastly superior album, and still sparkles and entertains.

Cool super early rap/hip hop. Obviously not my favorite but not bad at all

Connor: it's a decent album. from the beginning, the first verse is incredible - but it's probably the best on the album. Q-Tip flows great throughout, but the lyrics are a little weak in the middle songs and the beats use cool jazzy instruments but are a little too sparse

A mix of good and bad lyricism. Samples not that amusing.

A hip hop classic, more of a place in time album then what I consider pinnacle for me personally, however a great introduction to the world for Busta Rhymes, would go 3.5

За какие грехи мне это..

Eh… rap…

No. Just no. There is no appeal in this repetitive nonsense.

Some albums are timeless. This isn’t one of them unfortunately. 35 years old & sounding like it on some of the tracks.

gave it a whirl, not my thing but well put together.

Ok as far as hip hop albums go, this one isn't so bad. I actually really like the double bass throughout, although it is a little monotonous. But the delivery of the lyrics is basically like any hip hop album ever - the same cadence, the same tonality, the same basic rhythm. It's just so uninteresting and makes me not want to listen to what's actually being said. Calling it jazz inspired is a bit of a stretch for me but I was vaguely intrigued by the bass at first at least. But after about two or three songs I was done. It's just another hip hop album. 2/5

hella fire but not my thing, can see this being used in a up and coming indie movie

I like the nice but I don't like some of it and didn't add any #woke queen navy

Not quite my thing. But better than a lot of the rap that comes across the desk, as it where. Ultimately I just find it a bit dull?

Eipä jäänyt tämän kuuntelusta mieleen mitään erityistä. Aika tasapaksua biittiä.

wieder alter hip-hop, wieder klingt jedes lied gleich, und da ist da noch dieser rape song...

Another rap album that was a bit lewd, a bit silly but not particularly unusual or unique.

2/5.

Rap promoter to butter transition was smooth like butter Wow butter more like peak I’m half way through the album now though and it’s getting kinda old WOAHHH CHECK THE RHIME finally something different! We GOT the jazz!!

i mean it's alright its not really resonating with me right now but i really like the first song but idk bro

cool album cover

I just don’t get it; bottom line - this was bad & I failed to wrestle any entertainment value from this album.

Completely lost focus on this because there was really just nothing interesting going on. I'm sure the rapping is great, but the backing was so dull, it's just a plodding drum beat with some _very_ occasional jazz-adjacent-sounds (mostly in instrumentation, rather than any substance). Honestly, not sure why this is as highly rated as it is. It may well have had influence, but all it did was make me bored.

Nearly a three but at the end of the day I just don't like hip hop.

Ist halt ein Hip Hop Album aus den 90ern... 2/5

Good moments on first listen. Preferred the more upbeat numbers. There seemed to be a song that mentioned rape which is horrific.

5/10 - inoffensive (although lyrics sometimes may say otherwise), there is a distinctive sound but not necessarily a distinctive song

euuuuuh bon c'était quand même vachement la même instru sur tout les sons

I just can't get into an album that is almost all drum machine and rapped lyrics. For me there needs to be some sort of instrumental melody and harmony to the song - over-repetitive beats just don't cut it.

No es mi estilo

I think this record is a good timestamp of the cultural moment in which it was released. It's witty at times, maybe a bit naive by today's standards, raw and simple but with some offshoots you can tell have influenced decades of music since then. And yet I don't like it.

This was definitely a miss for me. I love the occasional A Tribe Called Quest song and was excited to listen to more of them. However, little of this album did anything for me and probably won't relisten to it.

Apparently influential. But not my sort of thing.

2.3/5

Bof bof! Pas impressionnant du tout… pas mon truc… trop répétitif!

I found this really dragged

Compared to their first album I didn’t find this one as melodic. Also the lyrics were not as interesting to me.

Again, and again, I feel I get the same kind of records. Nice, but nothing memorable.

Yeah sure, fine for what it was, and I guess I should be thankful it wasn’t a whole album of hypocrisy just about a half an album of asterisked words. Minua one for BS rules.

This was very blah to me.

Surprisingly... it isn't that bad. Actually, it isn't bad. I've enjoyed some parts of this album. And that's really something considering I haven't enjoyed any hip-hop album I've ever listened to (at least that I remember). I don't think this album is good either, there are many lows for me, and it even becomes too repetitive for my liking. But the funky and jazzy parts add this record some interesting moments.

No soy tan fan del hip hop de los 90’ sin embargo, algo que me gustó es que cada integrante le da su toque a cada canción, y las canciones no se sienten igual.

nah

I prefer the high end theory.

ráp nigaa

First half was rough but it picked itself up. 4/10

Some good rap, but the same problem as I have with other early hip hop. It's basic talking on a simple beat with little to no variation. You could put any of the vocals on any of the beats, or even just run all the vocals one after the other on the same beat, and there would be no real difference. What? was interesting at least. Best song: What?

Ganska skön jazzig hip hop i och för sig, men över en hel skiva blir det enformigt. Ungefär samma tempo, rytmik och temperament i låt efter låt. Scenario sticker ut som klart bästa låt.

A Tribe Called Quest har med två album i boken. Båda låter rätt snarlika och båda har jag fått slumpade till mig tidigare. Det är ingen större variotion på beatsen på The Low End Theory. Alla låtar har den samplade jazzbasen och stort sett samma dåsiga trumkomp. Det blir lite väl enahanda. Q-Tips solodebut är betydligt roligare.

The album isn’t bad. And for the time it’s very high quality. The lyricism is solid. But musically it’s pretty uninteresting of a full listen through, then finishes on a great track “scenario” that feels really refreshing when you finally get to it. This album shows more about how far hip hop has come than the heights of what it was.

The rhyming impresses me, but I'm just not a fan of rap music. I don't hate it, it's just not my jam. Great storytelling, though.

0/14 bekannt 4/10 Beste Songs: what?, everything is fair, scenario

Started off interesting, but then became monotone and boring.

It’s shit, but gets an extra star for Busta

Each song sounded like it had the exact same beat, just different lyrics. Very good at rhyming and lyrics, but not much else to write home about.

Did not enjoy. Felt like a was listening to a continous loop of the Fresh Prince TV theme. But wasn't offensive so that is a plus

All songs sounded the same to me, but I have listened to worst rap albums before

This is the second Tribe album in the last couple of months. While I enjoyed the first album, I found this one a bit boring

Personally this style of rap from this time period specifically isn't for me but I gotta admit this shit slaps

Meh, a ton of people that I like and respect like it a lot, but I just can’t get into it

Not a fan of rap, mostly because of the sexism... but I just don't enjoy the style in general.

Rap just ain't for me like at all. I get that it has a message, but I just find it boring. Especially the earlier rap. It just blends together. I finish an album and it's just like I've listened to an hour long song. It's a genre I won't ever be able to get into. If u enjoy it congrats, have a good time listening to this cause I won't do it again any time soon.

kind of boring imo

Love ‘Buggin Out’. It started to lose me by theme end but the vibe was great. Some interesting lyrics, some terrible.

So boring even instagram reels are PEAK entertainment while this plays.

Fav: everything is fair 2.5/5

Not good enough for me to comment on it but also not unlistenable

Te veel van hetzelfde

Not a fan of hip-hop, but west coast is better

For a group with a lot of hype I expected more, the lyrics are good but the music is just okay. The repetitiveness of it is really distracting at times

very meh. all the songs sounded identical to me :/ like not bad! but just nothing special whatsoever

Cool

The tracks sound similar to each other. The flows are basic and sometimes annoying. Nothing really impressed me about this album.

not my thing

O som com muita interferência "um chiado". Não gostei muito.

Good album but don't really like the genre

Wasn't really big into them back in the day, but these guys are pretty good. None of the songs I recognize are on this album though.

The music is pretty good, but again it's just endless loops (I know that's how the genre works - I don't care for it). As for the rapping, it's about as goofy as you can get. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing

78/1001 First listen. This makes jazz more listenable but it still has some jazz so I don’t want to listen to it again. 4/10

Really not a genre for me, it just sounds like noise lol

I fear every song is the same

2.5

The addition of a few jazz stars doesn’t necessarily elevate it

Nichts für mich.

Not my preferred genre, but I can appreciate

zasad (na trećoj pjesmi) tipične rep nige iz devetesetijeh. vjerojatno ću nakon što preslušam zaboravit da sam slušo. ne primjećujem ni kad se promijeni pjesma. dosadnooo na petoj sam pjesmi. dosta loš tekst, dosta loš flou. eh nakon što sam preslušao: uglavnom bezvezno. na trenutke jako loše i teško slušljivo. dobiva dvojku zbog nekih (doduše ne pretjerano čestih!) fora semplova

More melodic than most, but still not my thing.

I dunno, feels very much like the 90s Not doing it for me

Here we go…yo. And away I went bro.

90s rap. It's OK but rather listen to a lot of other music.

Ei löydy tarpeeks löysiä pöksyjä tämän kuunteluun.

Ihan ok hiphoppia, mut en niin välitä genrenä.

A bit too heavy on the drums

Not my preferred flavor of music, but some great lyrical work here

not my type of music but chill om eens daarnaar te luisteren

Did not enjoy.

"Keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets" !!!! 1991 was the Mets' first losing season since 1983—so, sick burn, fellas! #gojays Update: Hey, what—Dungeon Dragon is Busta Rhymes?? Nicki, cite your sources!

Not a fan

Minimalistic, repetitive sounds underlining trivial rhymes. Talking about the daily live and struggles of the 90s in the US and gangster glamour. Not annoying. But not interesting neither.

2.2 Just classic shite 90s hiphop on this list. Lyrics written by a teenager, very basis beats, wtf is this lists obsession with incredibly mediocre 90s hip-hop end me.

o.o

Wasn’t really in the mood to finish, so didn’t listen to the whole thing.

liked the first few songs but it was always the same

Rätt intressant ändå!

Brukar gilla denna typ av hiphop men här känns inte produktionen lika on point så som det brukar vara. Men det är ju också ett tidigt album.

Not me

Shoutout to the jazz bass player on this, really the star of the show. It's clear from listening to this that Check the Rhime is the standout track and did well as a single. The album has good moments, but most of the time I found myself zoning out. I don't have a valid criticism for this other than to say that despite listening to this three times I really wasn't able to interface with this for no reason other than the simple fact I found it boring. It was a novel listen at first, but this isn't the sort of album I would go out of my way to listen to. I can see this playing in a cafe or at some 'vinyl bar' where they pretend to play an actual LP but it's just spotify on an expensive PA system where a shitty excuse for a cocktail is 28 dollars and its really just a gin and tonic with food colouring. Highlights: Check the Rhime

Favorite: Everything is Fair This album is fine. "Infamous Date Rape" is throwing me for a bit of a loop, like the start of the song makes sense but then it keeps going and I start to be like WTF. What are their actual thoughts it's not clear, i shouldn't leave a song about that topic going 'wait what'. Also, this is a consistent thing about older rap albums but the way they talk about women just doesn't vibe with me, it doesn't make women sound like people to me. Otherwise, this is a good rap album, it's not my favorite genre but it's got some nice beats and the lyrics are fun to listen to and clever.

I'm not a rap fan, yet I feel like I've been spoiled by my limited exposure to Kendrick Lamar. This just feels artless to me. References feel dated. Many instances of cringe. Not my culture though, so my opinion is probably pretty irrelevant here.

Gut um im Hintergrund zu hören aber nichts was ich aktiv hören würde. Hat einen entspannten Vibe aber holt mich einfach nicht ganz ab. Topsong: What?

It seems wrong to say this, but this album didn't really do anything for me. I recognize their importance in hip-hop's development and get what they are getting at, but it just feels like one bass note over a minimally divergent boom-bap beat for 48 minutes, with the raps so drowned in the mix they never reach the surface. Maybe if I had it on headphones in the subway or something, the context would connect and it would feel perfect.

2,4/5

Creo que es imposible que no disfrute escuchar un álbum de este estilo, pero de igual manera no creo que escucha nunca más alguna canción de estos jajaja

Solidly fine. Generic 90s rap, nothing to set it apart from everything else in that time. 2/5 stars.

This album is all about the verse and it just didn't gel with me. Each beat was good but went on for ages with non-stop lines. Nothing really stood out to me.

Old school rap

Dull as fuck. I can see where it might be influential but fuck me.

Alright beats but just couldn't get into it and easily forgot what I listened to once it was over

Often treated like the holy grail of '90s hip-hop, The Low End Theory is really just a polite lecture delivered over sleepy jazz loops. It’s the kind of album that sounds like it should be playing in the background of a college dorm while someone talks at you about “real hip-hop.” The bass is warm, sure, but the energy is practically comatose — like Q-Tip and Phife took NyQuil before stepping into the booth. For an album that’s supposedly revolutionary, it rarely bothers to actually move. Lyrically, it’s smooth but smug, packed with so much “chill” it forgets to be exciting. Tracks blend together into one long blur of head-nods and humble brags, with the occasional name-drop of Zulu Nation like it's a free pass to be boring. Even when they drop wisdom, it’s served on dry toast — no urgency, no bite, just endless cool-guy detachment. The Low End Theory isn’t bad, but it coasts on reputation

Whilst I may have listened to this, it went in one ear and straight back out the other. So I guess that means I didn’t hate it if I don’t remember listening to it?

Not my jam I am afraid.

I'm told this was pioneering, and I believe it - I just don't care for the trails it blazed. The tracks are too repetitive within themselves and even amongst each other. Without its historical context, this would have been a 1.

383/1001 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

Dobri lyricsi in smesni, ksne rime bangajo, tudi beati so kr uredi. naziuce mi gre kr fulkrat ni rim. sam tko overall ni zame.

I almost like this album. But still, the delivery of each track comes across as very same-y, with the same vocals and the same sort of rhythms.

I didn’t like the mix of rap and jazz

Really didn't do much for me, but probably deserves a more attentive listen.

Rap is never my piece of cake. I acknowledge that is rather melodic, despite my preassumptions regarding rap. But still…

Obviously not two-star quality (like many other albums that I've rated here), but I just find the monotone rapping (I think I've used this term for almost every 80s/90s conscious rap album that I've gotten so far) to be incredibly dull.

It’s okay

Very samey

Ok, but felt a bit... basic.

Every song sounds pretty much the same. 2 might be harsh, but there was nothing to keep me listening.

Sorry to say but I found this so boring and tedious! Songs weren't bad but after like 3 of them they blended into one long mega song for 40 mins 2 ⭐️

Low vibes but chill. Kinda was expecting a little more here. 2.5 goin down.

hey defür dasses rap isch, isches no kuul, es passiered wenigstens halbewegs spannendi sache im bass oder sogar saxophon. aber igendwenn wirds eif repetitiv, rap gfallt mer eif nöd..

Meh. Not as good as I remember.

Old school rap isn't for me, but I can hear influences for today

I've always heard that early hip-hop like the Tribe is required listening to understand rap, but I've just never been able to get into it. The flows and rhymes are legit, and I can see the influence it had on later rap artists. That said, it kind of lands flat for me. Long tracks of them just flowing doesn't really do it for me. In this day an age, this seems like foundational listening for newer rap artists, but there's better stuff for pure listening. It was kind of fun to hear an early Busta though.

Greit nok, for langt

Smooth

Really dull and monotonous beats. Doesn’t feel like the bars have a lot of energy or creativity behind them. 1.5

Upright bass (samples??), drum programming and smooth rapping. This is good but not going to end up on my everyday listening.

A little long, not too many musical highlights

90s rap

As I understand it, the Low End Theory is to sample some jazzy double bass and stick a rigid beat on stop, suffocating whatever swing or groove might have been in the original. Not so expansive, expressive or exploratory as the jazz records it collages, but simultaneously lacking the hooks and earworms that De La Soul were able to pick out of their record collections. That's a real bass on Verses from the Abstract and it sounds like good playing, but feels disconnected from everything else. I understand, however, that the lyrical dexterity and content is the important thing. Personally, I found it difficult to parse the lyrics as they flew by, so I wouldn't want to make any comment on them. Infamous Date Rape sounded rough, but, compared to the explicit misogyny we've heard on other hip hop records on this list, I'd want to give it a closer listen before I passed judgment on it. "You can ask Stephen If the vibe ain't right" - Honestly, I don't know. 2 I know next to nothing about Rap/Hip Hop. Jazz I only know the basics. Jazz, famously, is typified when a group of technically gifted musicians come together and play the same two bars of music in 4/4, again and again, exactly the same way, at about 100 bpm for 4 minutes or so. It is only a grasp of these basics that allows us laymen to credit the many gushing critical statements on The Low End Theory that identify the album as an ingenious musical bridge between Jazz and Hip Hop. Otherwise we might make the mistake of thinking that Tribe Called Quest was just the same old shit that rappers always do but this time in a pork pie hat. As I say - I can only credit Tribe Called Quest second-hand for their successorship to Miles Davis because I am only a tourist in these genres and must defer to critical consensus. Let’s talk poetry though - I feel I can give Tribe all the credit they deserve for articulating their puerile view of the world through doubtful couplets. ‘I keep a tight net with my brothers Ken and Kenny/ If the question is of rhymes, then I'll tell ya, I got plenty‘ Oh Q-Tip, if only that was the question. 1/5 ‘Get the fuck off the stage’ Miles Davis

Meh

Really not a big fan of hip hop, but as it goes this is pretty gosh durn good.

Album 685 of 1001 A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991) Rating : 2.5 / 5 One of the better hip hop albums I've heard from the list. Doesn't make me enjoy the genre any more than I do. Just not my thing.

The album still sounds good, but after 6 to 8 tracks it gets tough because musically it's almost in an endless loop.

2+ Stars (6/15)

Decent start but abrupt end to the first track. Nothing standing out to me, some decent transitions though. Quite nice to listen to. Decent flow. Yeah, some pretty cool transition. All tracks sounding pretty similar. Fun ending.

Interesting. Wanted to like it but just not my thing.

It's quite o.k. but it's still hip hop🤷

Had pretty solid bass throughout which I enjoyed, and overall good beats, although a lot of the beats sounded pretty similar to my ear on the first listen. I liked their voices. I wasn’t terribly inspired by the lyrics, but they weren’t bad either. I’m giving it 2/5 stars because it wasn’t bad but I didn’t find it overall inspiring either.

So today it's hip hop again. I actually had to spend more time with the album than I usually do with hip hop albums. I liked the sound of the first track. It sounded like jazz. The chanting wasn't as aggressive as in other albums of the genre, the voices didn't sound quite shrill. Maybe this is the first Hio Hop album that I like? After I got to the 3rd track, the rhythm and melody hardly differed from the previous tracks, I listened briefly to Butter. No noticeable change for me. Check the Rhime was explicitly mentioned, so I listened to that too, or rather watched the clip almost in its entirety. It all looked quite cool, but didn't excite me enough to want to watch the video in full. Even though this album might not have put me off as much as other albums, hip hop is not my genre. 2/4

Eh not my favourite genre, listenable but not terrific, probably wouldn't listen again.

...the original version of Show Business though...yikes.

According to my Last.fm stats I've heard the first song from this album some time ago but it was my first time listening to the album in full. While I do enjoy the general vibe the album failed to make me pay attention to individual songs, they kind of blended together for me and started sounding samey after a while. I get that it's an important and influential album but it's... just not for me. 2/5

More wordy wrapping hood. Entertaining at times. Dreary for the most part.

Alternative Hip Hop, which combines drums, jazz bass line and vocals in a way working for me as background music for a few tracks. I found myself bored after 3-4 tracks though especially as Hip Hop mostly appears as more speech performance than music to me.

not hip hop fan

Bit samey and not really my thing.

Yeah I don't know. I get that people love this, but I've never made it to the end of the record. I dig the vibe and the positive energy, but it's too simple and too much the same from song to song.

2/5 cause I love the older slang. Didn't finish though, just not my thing

I don't think that it's a bad album at all, but it's not my type. However, it did feel a bit different than the other hip-hop albums that I know of, and there was a bit of two that had my attention. But is it special? Hard to tell for me. Hesitant, unsure, 3/5.

Heard many people talk up this album but I ended up just thinking it was okay. Wanted to like it more though.

It was ok, but not something I would seek out to listen to.

Not for me.

Very mediocre Hip Hop. Not bad, but nothing spectacular here. I've heard of them, and I assume that they were instrumental in the early days of hip hop, but this one bored me after the third nearly identical song. People make fun of all hair bands sounding the same, but the songs on this album had nearly the same music and lyric sytle on every song.

I'm sure this is great, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind. It's a mistake to listen to such a lyrical heavy album when you are... reading yourself.

I can appreciate that this may be good, but I don’t enjoy listening to hip hop at all.

Definitivamente el hip hop no es lo mío. No le pongo 1 porque objetivamente no es basura, pero no pude escuchar el disco entero.

Rap, Drums/Perc, 1991 -> 2

5/10

This is my second A Tribe Called Quest album. The other one was great; this one, unfortunately, was not-so-great. It was too repetitive, and the lyrics didn't hit me as well as their other album(and I'm still stunned by "The Infamous Date Rape"). Favorite Song: "Buggin' Out"

Meh. Demasiadas referências nas letras e o rap não me agrada muito.

Not my thing.

Not for me

Albummet er gennemført, det er hipt, og det er let at hoppe til....... Men det gør ikke rigtig noget for mig. Jeg kan dog godt anerkende det for at være nybrud inden for hele hip hop lyden, og klart nogen danske grupper som har trukket god inspiration fra det bas tunge, og minimalistiske i lyden.

Det starter stærkt ud. Excursions er på en gang et simpelt nummer og utrolig kompliceret. Det er old-school Hip-Hop. Simple beats og jazz samples. Q-Tips flow er laidback. Det minder en del om Nas. Desværre taber det ret hurtigt min interesse lige som de fleste Hip-Hop albums gør.

Okay for 1 time listening

Although talent wise, these guys are in the upper echelon, musically it’s not my thing. I’d group this in the Fresh Prince and Arrested Development class where I’m just not into the clean rap/hip hop. They do have sprinkles of explicit lyrics but it almost feels like it’s forced. So if you’re looking for something to play during a garage sale or while cleaning your car next to a school, this will do but maybe stay away from a handful of songs. Choice cut: Butter

Dr. Pepper and the music whore tried. I find it really funny how early hip-hop had some absolutely random lyrics. For early hip-hop it's a good album I guess, and even today it's listenable. For me the best part was the Busta Rhymes' verse, and maybe when one of them finally changed the flow in Infamous Date Rape

the beats had me head bobbing at times but it wasn't that good imo

Enjoyed listening to the album. Never really clicked with these guys but do appreciate them.

Just really unexciting

Ok but every song sounds EXACTLY the same?

the songs i knew i liked. not big on rap 4/10

It's fineeeeeeee.

I'd enjoyed their debut a lot but this wasn't for me.

Can’t say my life was enriched in any way by hearing this and I’m unlikely to bother again.

My foot tapped along but nothing really stood out

Un rap normal, totalmente olvidable, con ninguna vuelta de tuerca.

Not for me

Quite a funky bassline on the first few tracks. Same with the drums so i can see where the jazz references come from. Lyrically, hip hop and the like usually has quite meaningful words. But other than that it seems just a very average album from a first listen to me. Repetitive samples used throughout. None of them are particularly stand out either. although i do like the jazz feel on a few tracks. It wasnt a bad album but i struggle to see how this is a classic on a first listen. Maybe its more in the lyrics and commentary of the time. Because i thought it was an OK, and im unable to remember or think of a single stand out track, id give it a 2/5 based on a first listen. I know this album is well thought of so i will probably come back and give it another listen.

Not for me.

I still don’t understand the need for the cussing and sexual overtones. They had some solid songs that did not include either, so they are very capable of it. I liked the jazz sound.

Some of it didn’t feel like sampling. It felt like straight up plagiarism. This album was not good with an awful cup of cheating on the side

not bad it’s okay 3/10

Ik ben geen rap fan, maar deze meneer heeft wel een aangename stem.

Why is all 90s hip hop boring and misogynistic?

Not listened yet but

klasyczny hiphop z 90s, ale nic ciekawego na playliste, bardziej takie do puszczenia w tle, ostatni otwor to bardzo znany klasyk

Eh

Rap bores me. Misogyny, braggadocio, materialism, name dropping, I miss melody, and hooks. The production quality is admirable. 2*

Enjoyable enough for a hip hop album. Reminded me of de la soul

This is the second A Tribe Called Quest album I’ve listened to, and this one is just as boring and as formulaic as the first. Nothing sounded terrible, but there was nothing of interest either. Every track sounds almost identical to next. An hour of whale song would’ve been less of a sedative.

okay, but nothing special

Couldn't finish it

I kind of like Show Business and almost like Jazz (We’ve Got)

Relaxte rap

4/10 - This is not my type of music at all but "Roar roar like a dungeon dragon" is a hard lyric.

Ekki merkilegur pappír í mínum eyrum en samt ekki versta rappið sem ég hef heyrt þannig að ég er minna neikvæður gagnvart þeim en öðrum sem ég hef hlustað á. Samt mun ég ekki hlusta aftur.

Almost didn’t make it to the end

1. ezcurzionz - 1 2. bugging out - 1 3. rap promoter - 0 4. butter - 1.5 5. abztract - 1.5 6. zhouu buzinezz - 1.5 7. vibez and ztuff - 1.5 8. date rape - 1 9. check the rhyme - 2 10. everything iz fair - 0 11. jazz - 1.5 12. zkypager - 1 13. uuhat - 1 14. zcenario - 2

Not one for my tastes

not for me

was alright

Generally like the hip hop of 90s better than today's rap but this didn't move me very much.

Hiphop - new to me

not a fan of oldschool hiphop