LogFAQs > #956613765

79. A Tribe Called Quest Can I Kick It? (1990)
from the album Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D_JwgIM-y4

Key lyrics:
Boy, this track really has a lot of flavor

While hip hop was starting to lean more into gangster imagery, A Tribe Called Quest popped onto the scene to deliver the last great burst of golden age goodness. Built around a sample of Lou Reeds Walk on the Wild Side, Can I Kick It? is a low tempo jam. Though featuring little more than that sample, a simple beat, muted scratches, and a bit of background chanting, the mixing creates a musical journey. Just take the first verse, where everything but the beat drops out as Q-Tip raps. Halfway through the verse, the Lou Reed sample slides back in. This verse is followed by a wall of scratching and disparate samples. A similar structure occurs during Phife Dawgs verse, though the Lou Reed sample plays in small bursts through the first half. Can I Kick It? makes the most out of a small set.

Then you get to the rhyme scheme. During Q-Tips verse, he rhymes with the same vowel sound every line, but subtly shifts the closing consonant. Each line hits with emphasis from the previous. Phife Dawg follows this with an even stronger two-syllable scheme. As far as pure rhyming goes, this is among the best music has to offer. The laidback presentation makes this all easy to digest, as if the Tribe really just wants to show off. But just to make sure everyone is playing along, the chorus is a simple yet effective call and response. This is a party song through and through, a vital dose from an era when hip hop was all about fun.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/