A Tribe Called Quest Make History With Their First Number 1 Album In 20 Years
Last week (November 11), A Tribe Called Quest released We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, their first album in 18 years, and the final in their storied catalog. Fittingly, they are closing out their groundbreaking career on a historic note, as the album has reached the top of the Billboard album chart. That makes it the second number 1 album of the group’s career, and their first in over 20 years, after 1996’s Beats, Rhymes & Life. According to Billboard, the 20-year gap between number 1 albums is the longest in Hip-Hop history.
A Tribe Called Quest Perform On SNL & Phife Dawg Looms Large (Video)
According to Nielsen Music, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service sold the equivalent of 135,000 albums (including streams), with 112,000 of those being actual sales. Their Beats, Rhymes & Life album ascended to number one in the week dated August 17, 1996, making it 20 years and 3 months since Tribe’s last number 1 LP. According to Billboard, the previous longest time between number 1 albums for a Hip-Hop artist was 8 years and 2 months. That distinction belonged to Jeezy with his albums The Recession in September of 2008 and Trap or Die 3 this month.
Phife Dawg Got His Own Street Today. Watch It Being Unveiled (Video)
This caps off a magical week for ATCQ, which includes a high profile performance on Saturday Night Live, the release of their music video for “We The People,” and the unveiling of Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way, a section of Linden Boulevard in Queens, NY named after Phife Dawg. While the group, friends, family and fans continue to mourn the loss of Phife, his legacy is celebrated through his music and milestones like these.