Tag Archives: A Tribe Called Quest

Featured Music Raphael Saadiq: Once Again, With Feeling

by Rich Thomas
March 18, 2011 - 1:21 am

Raphael Saadiq in Austin 2011

Between the bands going off in the Cedar Street Courtyard next door, the sweaty green mass of St. Patrick’s Day revelers under a tent across the way, and the loud mix of patrons taking refuge in the restaurant we’re currently dining in, it’s nearly impossible to catch a break from the constant barrage of sound. It attacks from all angles, topped off with a steady flow of bass emanating from the floorboards underneath our feet. Yet for all the clamor and confusion, Raphael Saadiq is about as well composed as Beethoven’s 5th.

On Saturday, March 26, Saadiq will take part in his very own Red Bull Live Session, performing multiple sets that draw material from both past albums and the forthcoming Stone Rollin’, set to drop on May 10. The following interview is a taste of what’s to come. Make sure to tune in next weekend as we broadcast live from Red Bull HQ.

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Event I See People Under the Stairs

by Christine Spehar
April 21, 2009 - 5:37 pm

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Being at a People Under the Stairs show is kinda like being back in 1999, or wait, is it more like 1989? The fact is, the group’s organic loop-based hip-hop style has gone in and out favor over the past two decades (think The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest and Jurassic 5), but judging by the blissful grins and pumping fists of the mostly 18-24-year-old crowd on Friday afternoon at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio CA, right now it’s certainly enjoying another resurgence. PUTS played at 3pm to a full and verging-on-rabid tent of fans, their eyes transfixed and mouths rapping the lyrics right along with Thes One and Double K, the group’s two MCs. PUTS’ set consisted of a medley of old songs as well as new releases from their current album, Fun DMC.  The crowd’s enthusiasm never waned; in fact it might have even increased when the duo performed songs from The Next Step, released in 1998 and Question in the Form of an Answer, 2000.

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