Album

Beats, Rhymes and Life 1996

By A Tribe Called Quest

  • hip hop, jazz rap, alternative hip hop, boom bap
  • 51 min
  • 15 tracks
  • Jive

Beats, Rhymes and Life is the fourth studio album by American hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Released on July 30, 1996, by Jive Records, it followed three years after the highly regarded and successful Midnight Marauders. Produced by The Ummah, the album is a departure from the joyful, positive vibe of the group's earlier albums and is regarded as their darkest album in content. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 27, 1998.

hip hopjazz rapalternative hip hopboom bapeast coast hip hoppsychedelic

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Character

Character-led, spare, earnest and grave.

  • character-ledplot-driven
  • sparerichly built
  • earnestironic
  • gravecomic
  • classical in formformally daring

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