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Beats, Rhymes and Life

by A Tribe Called Quest

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Tribe's fourth album, Beats, Rhymes, and Life, should be the awkward one, the album on which the group, growing up, falters a little as it figures out what it's going to do next. It isn't. Marked by a number of changes, both internally (this is the album on which the Ummah production crew takes over, and it also marks Q-Tip's new religious faith) and externally (by 1996 Quest's jazzy approach to hip-hop had fallen out of popular favor), Beats finds Tribe taking it as it comes and handling all of the challenges with flair. It's a slower, steadier album than either People's Instinctive Travels or The Low End Theory, but that's a description, not a complaint; rather, it gives you plenty of time to enjoy jams like "1nce Again." It doesn't hurt that Q-Tip and Phife Dog are feeling the flow here; an inspired pairing with distinctive voices and different strengths, they trade verses with fluid grace. --Randy Silver