November 11 in rap history belongs to two Queens acts who still had something to prove decades into their careers. In 2016, A Tribe Called Quest released its final album, with Phife Dawg’s voice at the center of a reunion he didn’t live to see through to release. Six years later, Nas and Hit-Boy released King’s Disease III, a 17-track showcase for a rapper still finding new ways to write about the borough that raised him.
2016: A Tribe Called Quest Release Their Final Album
By the time We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service arrived on Nov. 11, 2016, nearly 18 years had passed since the group’s previous studio album, The Love Movement. Phife Dawg had died that March, and his verses on the finished record kept the old chemistry with Q-Tip alive. Jarobi White was part of the vocal lineup, too, giving this chapter a different shape from the Tribe albums many listeners grew up on.
On “Dis Generation,” the MCs trade lines fast enough that the handoffs become part of the rhythm. “We the People….” takes a different approach. Its blunt hook puts the language of exclusion front and center, and the drums give it the force of a protest chant. Released three days after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the album reached listeners at a moment when that song had an immediate resonance.
The reunion also returned Tribe to the top of the Billboard 200 for the first time in 20 years. The chart milestone capped a record that gave the group a closing statement in its own voice, with Phife still in the middle of the conversation.
Listen to A Tribe Called Quest on Apple Music.
2022: Nas and Hit-Boy Drop King’s Disease III
Nas and Hit-Boy released King’s Disease III on Nov. 11, 2022, through Mass Appeal. They had been working together since the first King’s Disease, which earned Nas the Grammy for best rap album. By the third installment, their partnership could carry an entire record without a billed guest verse.
“Thun” puts Nas back in Queensbridge, where old rivalries and neighborhood memories share space in the same verse. The restless beat changes on “Michael & Quincy” give him a different assignment. On “First Time,” he turns the attention outward, considering what it feels like to discover an artist before the records become familiar. Those shifts are part of the album’s appeal. Hit-Boy makes room for a writer who can draw on decades of material and still sound curious about what comes next.
Sources
- Complex on A Tribe Called Quest’s Billboard 200 return
- Pitchfork on the release date, production and tracklist for King’s Disease III
Read next: Browse Today in Rap History or explore more Raptology documentaries.
Natalia is a Rap and Hip Hop enthusiast. After graduating from The New School of New York’s Public Relations Program and taking a course in Journalism at Michigan State University, she decided to dedicate her life to the music publishing business and to the discovery of new talent. She helps new artists gain exposure to the masses via online marketing and publications.
Natalia Privalova
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