A Tribe Called Quest - "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm"

It's Fall 1991, and I'm a freshman in college. I'm in the other freshman dorm, Barrows. Dozens of us are packed into someone's small, cinderblock dorm room. The lights are off and people are dancing - we're all a bit giddy but trying to play it cool. And then someone puts on this song.....at first it sounds familiar - isn't that a Lou Reed track? But then clearly it's not. It's so good, I have no idea what it is, but everyone else seems to - there are lots of hands in the air, lots of "Oh, shit!" in that particular way that acknowledges an understood coolness.

I feel like we listened to "Can I Kick It?" and "Bonita Applebum" on repeat that night, but that might just be my nostalgia getting carried away. All I know for sure is that hearing those two tracks for the first time that night was the beginning of a big shift for me. At that point, I was still way more into jumping into mosh pits and flailing around than actually dancing to any hip hop or r&b. And I'd never even heard of house music. (That would change, but that's for another post.)

Even after that dorm party, it took me a little while to fully catch the bug and fall for hip hop. By the time I was converted, A Tribe Called Quest had come out with their second album, "The Low End Theory," which I memorized like it was scripture. Then came "Midnight Marauders," which was also amazing. So it was only after playing those albums 'til they started to wear out that I went back to "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" to see what else had been on that first album other than those two incredible singles.

It's too bad that this album has such a long title - that's really the only fault I can find with it. Other than that, it is just fantastic - it's fun, it's creative, it's surprising, it's political, and it's silly. Yes, silly. A track called "Ham n Eggs"?! Another called "Pubic Enemy"? Oh, the promise that this album showed when it ushered in the golden age of hip hop (that would be 1990 - 1995, if you didn't know :). It's good to go back to these roots and reflect on all that has come since then. And it's so much fun. You have to have this album in your collection if you love hip hop, as long as you don't need to take it all too seriously. If you don't have it, let me know - once I safely copy and back up the whole thing for posterity, it'll be on it's way to you.

Common Market - eponymous

If I had any doubt that my hip hop taste is not mainstream, it was erased this fall. In October, I spent a week in Columbus, O-hi-o working on the Obama campaign. A big part of my job involved driving a 15 passenger van back and forth from the Ohio State campus to the early voting station, full of college students. The radio and cds we listened to were all hip hop and r&b. Literally every time something came on that I thought was cool, it would immediately get boo'd and ejected by the kids in the van.

I imagine that Common Market would have met the same fate. There must be books and dissertations out there analyzying the journey of "conscious hip hop" over the last couple of decades. What is the story??? I mean, I know the basics of the story, but it still upsets me. I need to go read some of those books and get more of the nuances so I can talk more eloquently about the race and economic factors that have gotten us to this point. Thank god that folks like Common Market are still at it anyway.

I picked up this album randomly in 2006 when I was in Seattle for my sister's wedding. I definitely listened to it a bunch right then, but it's been a while. Giving it another listen on this grey, rainy morning has seriously lifted my spirits. Common Market reminds me of everything I love about hip hop. The samples are creative, generous and melodic, the lyrics serious and probing, and the beats get your head bobbin right away. It's been a long time since I've heard hip hop that is on par with standards set back in the early 90s by the zulu nation. Amazing that two guys from Seattle, brought together by their Baha'i faith, are carrying the torch.

One of many things that I love about this album is that it's an ALBUM. It flows, and works from beginning to end. Starts with a track, "Re-fresh," that gets you psyched right away - though it kind of cracks me up that it opens with the sounds of the NYC subway. Maybe a nod to the new york roots of their tradition by these northwest guys. Wraps up with a remix of the single "Every Last One" that I'm in love with, largely because there's some kind of go-go track running through it. A nod to D.C. that reminds me of trying to sneak into Chuck Brown shows when I was in high school. Nice.

Common Market has just achieved unique status in my music life - this is the first cd I've listened to for this project that has made me want to buy another cd. I know that's not really the point (it's kind of like the yard sale we had years ago in Somerville at the same time as our neighbors across the street, and ended up just swapping all our stuff). Luckily, I can download Common Market's new album, "Tobacco Road," and bypass the cd format. Too bad for you.

I'm not only burning this one into my collection, I have a feeling I'm going to be listening to it a lot. Until I buy their new album. By the way, I can't seem to find this eponymous cd listed anywhere on their website, so it may be out of print. Just another plug for someone to speak up and get this one in your mailbox sometime soon.