A lot could be said about Tribe Called Quest & this album. I've had it on my ipod for over a year now and I'm still learning new stuff about the outfit.
The listener is guided through the program by a robotic voiced woman played by actress Laura Dern. As this voice tells the listener at the end of "Award Tour", the meaning of the album's title derives from a figure that "seven times out of ten, we listen to our music at night", hence the "Midnight", and that the word maraud means to loot, and A Tribe Called Quest are "maraud[ing] for ears". One of the group members, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, described the album's name this way: "We decided to call the album 'Midnight Marauders' because A Tribe Called Quest are like sound thieves looting for your ears." [Wikipedia]
The album artwork of Midnight Marauders was the source of inspiration for a collection of products released by the Air Jordan Brand that includes t-shirts and sneakers and was released February 2009. The sneakers, officially called Air Jordan I Retro High Strap, were often called Midnight Marauders Air Jordan I or A Tribe Called Quest Air Jordan I by customers and featured a design of red, green and black. Two of the t-shirt designs include a wing design and a design mimicking the album cover of Midnight Marauders.
It also served as inspiration for a t-shirt by Munich-based clothing company Beastin', showing the members of the original 1992 Dream Team arranged in the same way as on the Midnight Marauders cover.[Wikipedia]
In my opinion this album is best enjoyed front to back. So I'd suggest supporting the group and plunking down the 10 or some on dollars for the album. Enjoy :)
This is a masterpiece of Hip Hop culture. Best of all time!
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