ATCQ

A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest perform in 2009. (Left to right: Jarobi White, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg)
Background information
Origin	St. Albans, Queens, New York, United States
Genres	Hip hop, alternative hip hop, jazz rap
Years active	1985–1998 2006–2013 2015–present
Labels	Jive, Epic
Associated acts	De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Leaders of the New School, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, J Dilla, Busta Rhymes, Consequence, Raphael Saadiq, D'Angelo, Mint Condition, Black Sheep, Beastie Boys, The Pharcyde, Large Professor
Website	http://atribecalledquest.com/
Members	Q-Tip Ali Shaheed Muhammad Jarobi White
Past members	Phife Dawg (deceased)

A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip-hop collective formed in 1985 and originally composed of MC and main producer Q-Tip, MC Phife Dawg, DJ and co-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad and MC Jarobi White, who left the group in 1991 after the release of their debut album. White continued to contribute to the band sporadically before rejoining for their 2006 reunion. Along with De La Soul, the group was a central part of the Native Tongues, and enjoyed the most commercial success out of all the groups to emerge from that collective. The group released six albums between 1990 and 2016. The band broke up in 1998 after releasing their fifth album. In 2006, the group reunited and toured the United States. In 2016, they released their sixth album, which was still incomplete when Phife Dawg died suddenly in March 2016, and was completed by the other members after his death.

The group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip-hop music, having helped to pave the way for many innovative artists. John Bush of AllMusic called them "the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s."The Source gave the group's debut album a rating of five 'mics,' the first time the magazine gave out this rating. In 2005, A Tribe Called Quest received a Special Achievement Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta. In 2007, the group was formally honored at the 4th VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.

Q-Tip (Kamaal Ibn John Fareed) and Phife Dawg (Malik Izaak Taylor) were childhood friends who grew up together in Queens, New York. Initially, Q-Tip performed as a solo artist under the name MC Love Child, occasionally teaming up with Ali Shaheed Muhammad as a rapper and DJ duo. While the duo frequently made demos with Phife, then known as Crush Connection, Phife only became a full member once Jarobi White joined. The group's final name was coined in 1988 by the Jungle Brothers, who attended the same high school as Q-Tip and Muhammad. Q-Tip made two separate appearances on the Jungle Brothers' debut album, Straight Out the Jungle, in the songs "Black is Black" and "The Promo".