Midnight Marauders

Midnight Marauders
Studio album by A Tribe Called Quest
Released	November 9, 1993 (1993-11-09)
Recorded	November 1992–September 1993
Genre	Alternative hip hop, jazz rap
Length	51:12
Label	Jive/BMG Records 01241-41490
Producer	A Tribe Called Quest, Large Professor, Skeff Anselm
A Tribe Called Quest chronology
Revised Quest for the Seasoned Traveller (1992) Midnight Marauders (1993) Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996) Singles from Midnight Marauders "Award Tour" Released: November 1993 "Electric Relaxation" Released: 1993 "Oh My God" Released: May 30, 1994

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	(A-)[2]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)[3]
Q	[4]
RapReviews	(10/10)[5]
The Source	[6]
Spin	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
USA Today	[9]

Midnight Marauders is the third album by hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released November 9, 1993 on Jive Records. It was released just two years after A Tribe Called Quest's second album, "The Low End Theory", and reached #1 on the R&B/HipHop Charts and #8 on the Billboard 200 in 1993.^[10]

Background

The album Midnight Marauders was a critical and commercial success, especially the hit single "Award Tour". "Award Tour" was the first single released from the album and it is their highest charting single to date. It peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #1 on the U.S. Hot Rap Singles Chart. The single features Maseo from De La Soul on the chorus. Subsequent singles released from the album were, in order, "Electric Relaxation" and "Oh My God" which featured a sample of former Leaders of the New School Emcee Busta Rhymes on the chorus. The same sample of Busta Rhymes was also used on the last track of the album "God Lives Through".

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".^[11] 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."^[12]

With this album, A Tribe of Quest "shifted their attention to more urban concerns".^[13] Rather than simply discussing violence, the group's songs tell stories about everyday events such as a trip to a bodega or a getting a milkshake.^[14] However, while they have paid more attention to everyday life, the album is still mattered with typical Hip Hop subjects such as racial issues and sexual tension.

Midnight Marauders is one of three A Tribe Called Quest albums on The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.^[15] On January 12, 1994 it was certified and it reached platinum status one day less than a year later on January 11, 1995.^[16] It is also one of three A Tribe Called Quest albums to be certified platinum by the RIAA.^[17]

Some of the songs have been used in television shows and other media. The song "Electric Relaxation" was used during the opening theme for the WB sitcom Wayans Bros.. Of all the videos for this album, "Oh My God" is the only track from the album with a full color music video. The original version of "The Chase Part Two", called "The Chase", uses the same beat, but instead features Consequence without the other members, and can be found as a b-side to Award Tour.The European Version of the album features the bonus track “Hot Sex” which was featured in the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang in 1992. Later it was released on the bonus disc of the group's fifth studio album The Love Movement in 1998.

Track listing

All songs written by Jonathan Davis, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Malik Taylor, except where noted. Artists sampled by the group are officially credited as writers for four songs. All songs are credited as produced by A Tribe Called Quest, except "8 Million Stories", produced by Skeff Anselm and "Keep It Rollin'", produced by Large Professor, although in later years, it has come out that all the songs were produced by Jonathan Davis, who credited the entire group as an act of solidarity.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Midnight Marauders Tour Guide"		0:45
2.	"Steve Biko (Stir It Up)"		3:11
3.	"Award Tour" (featuring Trugoy the Dove)		3:46
4.	"8 Million Stories"	Davis, Muhammad, Taylor, Skeff Anselm	4:30
5.	"Sucka Nigga"	Davis, Muhammad, Taylor, Freddie Hubbard	4:05
6.	"Midnight" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)		3:49
7.	"We Can Get Down"		4:19
8.	"Electric Relaxation"		4:04
9.	"Clap Your Hands"	Davis, Muhammad, Taylor, Bob James, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter, Jr., Cyril Neville, Joseph Modeliste	3:16
10.	"Oh My God" (featuring Busta Rhymes)		3:29
11.	"Keep It Rollin'" (featuring Large Professor)	Davis, Muhammad, Taylor, William Mitchell	3:05
12.	"The Chase, Part II"		4:02
13.	"Lyrics to Go"	Davis, Muhammad, Taylor, Steve Arrington, Victor Godsey, Buddy Hankerson	4:09
14.	"God Lives Through"		4:15

European bonus track
No.	Title	Length
15.	"Hot Sex"	2:45

Additional credits

#	Title	Notes
1	"Midnight Marauders Tour Guide"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Aquarius" by Cal Tjader
2	"Steve Biko (Stir It Up)"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Ekim" by Michael Urbaniak Sample: "Blackstone Legacy" by Woody Shaw
3	"Award Tour"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "We Gettin' Down" by Weldon Irvine Sample: "Lowdown" by Charles Earland Sample: "Olinga" by Milt Jackson Sample: "Hobo Scratch" by Malcolm McLaren
4	"8 Million Stories"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor, S. Anselm Sample: "Bettina" by Bola Sete Sample: "Over the Rainbow" by The Ohio Players
5	"Sucka Nigga"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor, Freddie Hubbard Sample: "Red Clay" by Jack Wilkins Sample: "M.C. Battle" by Busy Bee and Rodney Cee
6	"Midnight"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Psychadelic Shack" by Albino Gorilla Sample: "North Beach" by George Duke
7	"We Can Get Down"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Martin's Funeral" by Bill Cosby Sample: "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier Sample: "My Melody" by Eric B. and Rakim
8	"Electric Relaxation"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Mystic Brew" by Ronnie Foster Sample: "Outside Love" by Brethren Sample: "Dreams" by Ramsey Lewis
9	"Clap Your Hands"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor, B. James, L. Norcentelli, G. Porter, C. Neville, J. Modeliste Sample: "Nautilus" by Bob James Sample: "Hand Clapping Song" by The Meters Sample: "Ode to Billy Joe" by Lou Donaldson
10	"Oh My God"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Who's Gonna Take Weight" by Kool & The Gang Sample: "Why Can't People Be Colors Too?" by The Whatnauts Sample: "Absolutions" by Lee Morgan
11	"Keep It Rollin'"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor, W. Mitchell Sample: "Feel Like Making Love" by Roy Ayers
12	"The Chase, Part II"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor, Steve Arrington, Victor Godsey, Buddy Hankerson Sample: "Beddie Biey" by Steve Arrington Sample: "Nobody Beats the Biz" by Biz Markie
13	"Lyrics to Go"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Just Enough Room for Storage" by James Brown Sample: "Inside My Love" by Minnie Ripperton Sample: "Mixed Up Cup" by Clyde McPhatter
14	"God Lives Through"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Dig On It" by Jimmy McGriff Sample: "On Love" by David T. Walker Sample: "Oh My God" by A Tribe Called Quest
*	"Hot Sex"	Songwriters: J. Davis, A. Muhammad, M. Taylor Sample: "Who's Making Love" by Lou Donaldson

Accolades

The information is taken from Acclaimedmusic.net^[18]and other website links below.

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Ego Trip	USA	Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980-98	1999	#2
Exclaim!	Canada	100 Records that Rocked 100 Issues	2000	*
Pitchfork Media	USA	Top 100 Albums of the 1990s [redux]	2003	#75
The Source	USA	The Source 100 Best Hip-Hop Albums of All Time	1998	*
The Guardian	UK	100 Albums that Don't Appear in All Other Top 100 Album Lists	1999	#98
The New Nation	UK	Top 100 Albums by Black Artists		#11
OOR Moordlijst	Netherlands	10 The 100 Best Albums of 1991-1995	1995	#31
Spex	Germany	1001 The 100 Albums of the Century	1999	#19

( * ) designates lists which are unordered.

Cover art

The back vinyl cover of Midnight Marauders

Widely respected and admired for their success and artistry throughout the hip hop scene, and preternaturally inclined to accept this adulation with grace and humility, the group elected to summon fellow hip hoppers whose work as artists and actions as human beings they respected, and photographed headshots of each for arrangement on the album's cover and liner-notes insert. And like The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, it serves as a time capsule of the era; a who's who of hip hop circa 1993.

According to ego trip's Book of Rap Lists, there are a reported 71 different hip hop luminaries and radio DJ's who adorned Midnight Marauders. The cover was issued in three different color schemes- red, black, and green (with black being the rarest). The book goes into detail as to which artists were on which particular album cover using a number scheme to easily identify each artist. The complete list of artists is as follows:

• Afrika Bambaataa
• AMG
• Ant Banks
• Awesome Two
• Beastie Boys (Mike D, Adrock, MCA)
• Black Moon
• Busta Rhymes
• Casual
• Chi Ali
• Chuck D
• The Cold Crush Brothers (Almighty KG, Charlie Chase, Easy AD, Grandmaster Caz, DJ Tony Tone)
• Daddy-O (of Stetsasonic)
• Dallas Austin
• Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
• Diamond D
• Doug E. Fresh
• De La Soul (Posdunos, Dave & Mase)
• DJ Jazzy Joyce
• Kool DJ Red Alert
• DJ Ron G
• DJ Silver D
• Dr. Dre
• Grandmaster Flash
• Heavy D
• Ice-T
• Jazzy Jay
• Jungle Brothers (Afrika Baby Bam, Mike G)
• DJ Kid Capri
• Kool Moe Dee
• Large Professor
• Lords of the Underground
• MC Lyte
• MC Serch
• Neek the Exotic
• Organized Konfusion
• The Pharcyde (Fat Lip, Imani, Romye, Slim Kid Tre')
• Pete Nice
• Rashad Smith
• Rock Steady Crew (Crazy Legs, Mr. Wiggles, Pee Wee Dance, Ruel)
• Sean Combs
• Skeff Anselm
• Souls of Mischief
• Special Ed
• Sweet Tee
• Too Short
• Whodini (Grandmaster Dee)
• Zulu Nation Supreme Council (Zulu King Muhammad, Unknown)

Midnight Marauders inspired Air Jordans

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.^[19]

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1993 (U.S.)

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Robert Christgau review
3. ^ Entertainment Weekly review
4. ^ Q review
5. ^ RapReviews review
6. ^ The Source review
7. ^ Spin review
8. ^ Rolling Stone review
9. ^ USA Today review
10. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/album/a-tribe-called-quest/midnight-marauders/147303
11. ^ Stated by 'Tour Guide' at the end of "Award Tour" This end before "Lyrics to Go".
12. ^ http://search.proquest.com/docview/337697552?accountid=28000
13. ^ http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=9403187513&site=ehost-live
14. ^ http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=30333242&site=ehost-live
15. ^ ~~~~ www.rocklist.net ~~~~
16. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database
17. ^ http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/default.asp
18. ^ "Midnight Marauders at AcclaimedMusic.net". http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/061024/A899.htm. Retrieved June 23, 2007. 
19. ^ http://shop.beastin.net/WebRoot/Store/Shops/es113487_Beastin-Shop/48A4/C584/1E5A/9EE4/40FE/50ED/8960/5E95/BARCA_AWARD_TOUR_TEE_MINT.jpg