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Track: Stressed Out (feat. Faith Evans)
Artist: A Tribe Called Quest
Album: Beats, Rhymes & Life

Artist Bio

A Tribe Called Quest Image

Name: A Tribe Called Quest
Spotify Genres: jazz rap, east coast hip hop, hip hop, old school hip hop
Followers: 2,396,093
Popularity:

64/100

Biography

A Tribe Called Quest was a critically acclaimed rap group comprised initially of [a=Q-Tip] (b. Jonathan Davis ― later changed to Kamaal Ibn John Fareed in the mid-1990s upon conversion to Islam ― 10 April 1970, New York, USA), DJ [a=Ali Shaheed Muhammad] (b. 11 August 1970, Brooklyn, New York City, USA), [a=Jarobi] and [a=Phife Dawg] (b. Malik Taylor, 20 November 1970, Brooklyn, New York City, USA; d. 22 March 2016, USA). The group formed in high school in 1988 in Queens, New York City, NY, where they started as part of the Native Tongues Posse, with [a=Queen Latifah], [a=De La Soul], [a=Black Sheep], [a=Monie Love], and the [a=Jungle Brothers], and were given their name by [a=Afrika Baby Bambaataa] of the Jungle Brothers. Following their August 1989 debut, "Description Of A Fool," they had a hit with "Bonita Applebum" a year later, based on a classmate from their school. Their most significant success came the following year with the laid-back "Can I Kick It?" demonstrative of their refined jazz/hip-hop blend. This release earned the first ever "5-star" award from Source Magazine. Q-Tip also appeared on Deee-Lite's August 1990 hit, "Groove Is In The Heart." While their debut, "People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm," was more eclectic and even self-consciously jokey, "The Low-End Theory" (recorded as a trio following the departure of Jarobi) blended boom bap beats with carefully selected jazz, funk, and soul melodies. ATCQ was helped considerably by jazz bass player [a=Ron Carter] (who had worked with [a=Miles Davis] and [a=John Coltrane]). Tracks such as "The Infamous Date Rape" stoked controversy, while samples from [a=Lou Reed], [a=Stevie Wonder], and [a=Earth, Wind & Fire] were used frugally and intelligently. Q-Tip appeared in the 1993 movie "Poetic Justice" opposite [a=Janet Jackson]. ATCQ was awarded the "Group Of The Year" after the release of 1993's "Midnight Marauders" at the inaugural Source Magazine Hip Hop Award Show in 1994 before being moved off stage by the arrival of [a=2Pac] and his Thug Life crew, who were attempting to steal some publicity. It was later determined this was an accident on 2Pac's behalf. In 1996 "Beats, Rhymes And Life" debuted at number 1 on the Billboard album chart with highly evolved lyrics addressing issues with greater clarity than their past recordings. "The Love Movement," which debuted at US number 3 in October 1998, was another mature, stylish collection of material. However, it lacked the spark of their earlier works. ATCQ released "We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service" on November 4, 2016, nearly 18 years after "The Love Movement" album. While recording verses for the album and his solo album, Phife Dawg passed away on March 22, 2016. During its first month of release, "We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service" was greeted with critical acclaim and fan support. The group has been awarded the Founders Award at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards and was honored at the 4th VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. In 2017, the group was awarded the Brit Award for International Group. In 2024, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Source: Discogs

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LYRICS

Intro/Chorus: Faith Evans
I really know how it feels to be, stressed out, stressed out
When you're face to face with your adversity
I really know how it feels to be, stressed out, stressed out
We're gonna make this thing work out eventually

Verse One: Consequence, Q-Tip

Yo I ain't one to complain but there's things in the game
(What's your name?) Consequence, I'm tight, burnt like flames
(And why's that?) American dreams, they got this ghetto kid in a fiend

Don't stress that cause it's not in your bloodstream
Your whole being, comes from greatness, d'you remember
Shatan got you caught in the storms of December
And brothers on the block packin nines like September
Crazy situations keeps pockets on slender

Yo I be on the avenue where they be actin brand new
I'm splurgin on these Reebok joints for shorty boo

All of a sudden, I saw these two kids frontin
Talkin out they joints but they wasn't sayin nuttin
My hand was on my toolie they was actin unruly
(Say word) Yo word up, yo I was tight caught up
But I swallowed my pride and let that nonsense ride
Because I'm positive it seems that negative dies

Yo we was at the dice game makin these cats look silly
Flamin, steady runnin off at the Willie

I had my cash mixed, my rent due, with my play-dough
I gotta see some loot so all my girls I blow
Shook them shits in my palm let em hit the flo'
Kept my eyeballs scopin for them pigs po-po
I got to go on the ave see my parole by fo'
But I gotta steady freak these boys like JoJo

And I was doin it, til I met Ike, Spike, and Mike
One roll, they had my pockets thirstier than Sprite

Yo I know the feelin, when you feelin like a villain
You be havin good thoughts but the evils be revealin
and the stresses of life can take you off the right path (no doubt)
Jealousy and envy tends to infiltrate your staff
We gotta hold it down so we can move on past
all adversities, so we can get through fast, like that

Chorus

Verse Two: Consequence

You got the N.W.O. (low cash flow)
Your baby's on the way (and you don't know who)
And crosstown niggaz tryin to (bust at you)
Aiyyo they got me stressed out (and you don't know what to do)
So frame this Kodak black, and vision to my contact
with a poultry scrap, workers get pistol smacked
The switch hittin Queens, niggaz liquid sword spittin
with raw poppy, and now your first love is krill
Your vision of the mil got crept like Hey Lover
Tried to rise to the top, you just couldn't recover
And all I want is my laceration of the pie
to get this whip cream before the water runs dry
Niggaz flashdancin yo I don't know why
You're sick of snitchin, she got you cruisin to the pokey
like Smokey, the stress be tryin to squeeze out a homey
While I be tryin to get star status like Shinobi
So we can build a dynasty, just like the Toby's
And all I want, is the world to know my steez
These money hungry niggaz is seven thirty
And got me stressed out like these frog MC's

Chorus

Outro: Faith Evans

Don't worry we gon make it (gonna make it)
Don't worry we gon make it (oh yeah)
Don't worry we gon make it (gonna make it)
We gon make it (gotta make it)
Don't worry we gon make it (gotta make it)
We're gonna make it (we gotta make it)
Don't worry we gon make it (we gonna make it)
We gonna make it (ohhhhhhh)
Don't worry we gon make it (ohhhhhhh)
Don't worry we gon make it (gonna make it)
Don't worry we gon make it (ohhhhhhh)
We gon make it (ahaowwhwwww)
Don't worry we gon make it (ahahwwww)
I know we gonna make it (we're gonna make it)
C'mon baby we gon make it (yeahhhh)
We gon make it (yeahhahhahhhh)
Don't worry we gon make it (we're gonna make it)
We've gotta make it (we've gotta make it)
We've gotta make it (oh yeah)
Know we're gonna make it
We're gonna make it, gonna make it, we gotta make it, know we gonna make it...