When A Tribe Called Quest arrived in 1990, they were even more of a headscratcher than their fellow Native Tongues De La Soul had been a year early. “Me, Myself and I” may have been different, but “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo” was downright trippy. That song, and its parent album, Peoples’ Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, set the stage for Tribe to become one of hip-hop’s most influential groups. No matter where you place Travels in the pantheon of great albums (hip-hop or otherwise), there’s no denying the two records that followed (The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders). And neither of those would have happened without the debut.
Q-Tip, Phife, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (and Jarobi?) are rumored to be rolling out a series of reissues, with the first being a new version of Travels. Scheduled for release November 13th, it will include a remastered version of the original album (mixed by the legendary Bob Power), plus some modern-day remixes, and I’m hoping it also includes some rarities and alternate versions like the infamous “Hootie Mix” of “Bonita Applebum.” That particular remix arguably received more radio play (at least in New York) than the original, and is also notable for being the first (to my recollection) of the roughly 3 million songs that sampled The Isley Brothers’ “Between The Sheets”.
A little bitty teaser recently surfaced for the reissue. I’m sure there’s more to come. If the recent Def Jam remaster/reissue campaigns for Public Enemy and LL Cool J are any indication, these Tribe sets are gonna be pure fire.