Released on the same day as Enter the Wu-Tang(36 Chambers) in 1993, Midnight Marauders is A Tribe Called Quest’s third studio album. The group consists of Q-tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White.  These artists were top notch back in the 90’s. This album was a follow up to Low End Theory, which was their second studio album.  The bombada beats and jazzy flow from Low End Theory finds it way into Midnight Marauders. Tribe member Q-Tip produced most of the beats for the funky, jazz rap outfit.  Each song is a continuing story about the struggles and the successes of the group.  For instance, the hit song “Award Tour” talks about the group taking over the hip hop game traveling and spreading their empowering music all over the globe.  From start to finish, this album will keep your head bobbing as if you were on a Brooklyn street corner back in the 1990’s and the golden era of hip hop.  

To label this a good album is an understatement.  This is Tribe’s most popular album because it maintains a positive tempo to elevate listeners’ moods.  This hip hop classic is one of the few albums in history that can stand the test of time and never get boring or annoying. Considering that the album is called Midnight Marauders and that maraud, according to Merriam Webster means “to roam about in search of plunder,” it all begins to make sense when pondering how the music and lyrics infiltrates a listener’s normal thought processes to induce a hypnotic state.  In modern hip hop today you see many “artists” talk about guns, women, and drugs but in reality they are as soft as Drake.  If you’re in the mood for real talk, a classic hip hop vibe and a groovy beat then take a trip back to 1993 and listen to Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders.