Pharrell Was Almost on A Tribe Called Quest's 'Midnight Marauders'
To this day, perhaps no one in hip-hop's perennial hit-making tier pledges as much adoration for A Tribe Called Quest (specifically, Q-Tip) as one Pharrell Williams. The Virginia Beach native had just begun working under the wing of new jack pioneer, Teddy Riley, upon Tribe's ascent, and according to a recent interview with Tip, Jarobi, Busta Rhymes and Consequence, were a constant presence at Tribe shows up and down I-95.
Tip goes on to reveal that the producer's diehard fandom almost turned into a real-life feature when a still widely unknown Pharrell wrote and recorded a verse for "The Chase Pt. II," and went on to submit suites for Beats, Rhymes and Life. The latter would become one of J Dilla's earliest breakout moments joining Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad to form The Ummah, but it's a compelling thought to even try and grip how a Tribe album might sound with production from The Neptunes. Elsewhere in the interview Tip details his relationship with Kanye, the inspiration for "El Segundo," how he shopped the "One Love" beat to Nas and so much more.
Hit the link down below for the full set of tales and pick up your copy of A Tribe Called Quest's final album, We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service on iTunes. You can also cop the album on wax via The Shop.
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