A Tribe Called Quest is going out big. Just a day after releasing their sixth and final album, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, the legendary hip-hop group took the Saturday Night Live stage for a bittersweet set.
Members Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White put on incredible, emotional performances of “We the People...” and "The Space Program"—marking their first, and likely last, appearance on the sketch comedy show.
During "We the People...", the group let Phife's verses play and paid tribute to him by unveiling giant stylized drawing of the recently deceased group member.
For "The Space Program," Jarobi, Ali Shaheed, and Tip were joined at the very end by longtime friends and collaborators Consequence and Busta Rhymes, in an extremely powerful family reunion. You can watch it below via Mr. World Premiere.
ATCQ made their SNL appearance along with the famously reclusive Dave Chappelle. After the comedian and group were announced as the host and musical guests last week, fans, understandably, had a collective freakout. And judging by Saturday night's Twitter responses, many of them were not disappointed.
We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service is a fitting farewell for the iconic group, including the late, great member Phife Dawg. For many of us, the thought of another ATCQ album seemed highly unlikely, especially because they had not released a full-length project in 18 years. There had been a few rumors and reports about a new record, but it wasn't confirmed until last month, when Q-Tip posted a handwritten announcement on social media.
You can purchase We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service today on iTunes, or stream it on Apple Music and Spotify. You can also learn more about the album, as well as ATCQ's legacy in Complex's three-part cover series for the Oct/Nov 2016 issue.
