Go Ahead in the Rain:

Notes To A Tribe Called Quest

A poet, essayist and cultural critic, Hanif

Abdurraqib deftly weaves the biographical, autobiographical and his own elegiac letter writing into just over 200 pages that not only chronicle Tribe’s beats and rhymes, but their place and meaning both in his own life and the larger cultural sphere. It begins with Abdurraqib outlining the musical traditions that slaves brought to America from Africa, segueing to the preservation of African rhythms, the birth of jazz and taking up trumpet as a boy, in an effort to better connect with his father. These subjects and personal experiences are charted alongside Tribe’s career arc in chronological fashion.

He frames both alongside cultural moments including ( but not limited to) hip-hop’s coastal warfare, striking photos published in Jet and The Source, the tenuous relationship between the Grammy Awards and rap music, “mumble rap,” and the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Leonard Cohen. Abdurraqib’s recounting of the group’s creative output remains accessible throughout, digestible for those without a strong command of ATCQ history or that of the genre. Abdurraqib splits up letter writing over three chapters, addressing Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Phife’s mother, poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor. Within these touching entries, his love for the group is laid bare; to quote passages at length from these letters here would be a disservice. Instead, consider his thoughts on Tribe’s final album We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, released after Phife’s death: “I didn’t think I wanted another Tribe album. Then Phife died and I wanted one more than anything. Then it arrived and it was greater than I could have asked for.” (University of Texas Press)