I defer to the hip-hop connoisseurs on this but I had a couple of Tribe records, didn't have any De La Soul So Tribe wins, for me
Overall de la soul had more longevity and more quality albums Nonetheless I found this to be interesting A Clan Called Wu - Enter The Marauders
Tribe because their first three albums were masterpieces and got better with each one. De La's first two albums were amazing but Buhloone Mind State v Midnight Marauders? Forget about it.
On its own merits Buhloone Mind State is a good album but compared with the other stuff coming out in '93, including Midnight Marauders, it didn't stand up that well.
93’ was a strange year for hip-hop. I was reading on a hip-hop board how so many rappers had to change up to be “hard” during this period to keep with the trends. I didn’t notice it as a kid but I see it more now. Run DMC with their “never let a punk get away with murder”, LL with 14 shots to the dome and this music video where he distracts a liquor store clerk so he can help some random guys steal 40s from the back, MC Lyte wanting a gun-packing Ruffneck (after dissing these guys on Self Destruction). The Afrocentric era was at its death bed at this point, as Dre said on Let Me Ride. But then you had a masterpiece in Midnight Marauders, and also Souls of Mischief came out. It’s crazy how quickly music changed back then.
Yeah, I think it was the year a lot of those underground MCs from New York broke through - The Wu being the most obvious but you also had Fat Joe, Biggie, Big L and Mobb Deep making some noise. So I think it kind of killed the postive/afrocentric thing that had been going off at the beginning of the 90s but also counterbalanced the West Coast G Funk sound. I think Tribe kept on top because they'd already taken that step away from the Native Tongues sound with Low End Theory so they just kept going in that direction.
REED Appreciated DeLa's Conscious, Black Intellectual Vibe...Their INFLUENCE On the Native Tongues, Andre 3000, Digable Planets, Arrested Development, PM Dawn and Others was OBVIOUS... Tribe was Simply BETTER... The QUALITY Of Tribe's Rhymes was Better, the QUALITY Of Tribe's Beats was Better... If Phife is Rocking w/DeLa Instead of Tribe, He's the BEST Emcee in the Room... REED
Q Tip was the best emcee and I don't think it's particularly close. Also, Q and Phife were a better emcee combo than Pos and Trugoy. They had that great contrast in their voices like Chuck and Flav had that just made them more memorable. Check the Rhime...
