2. One of the more political songs on We Got it From Here… Thank You 4 Your
Service, “We The People…” illuminates the problems in modern America,
including police brutality, racial and religious discrimination, threats of
deportation, and a lack of equality for women
This song/music video also alludes to many subjects such as;
white supremacy
love
money
morality
and even touches on times around and
before the Civil Rights movement of
the 1970’s.
3. Co-written by some of the likes of;
Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Phife Dawg &
Q-Tip
Accompanied by the vocals from current members, Ali Shaheed
Muhammad and Jarobi White
4. The title of the song is mentioned within the first line, reinforcing
the concept of the song in which the artists are trying to portray.
“We don't believe you 'cause we the people”
Although the Constitution seems to derive power from “the
people,” Q-Tip argues that the very same people no longer trust
their own government.
Before the Civil Rights Movement, minorities, namely Black
people, were forced to sit in the back of the bus, implying that
being in the rear is a sign of being lesser. Q compares the back-of-
the-bus experience to modern day American minority
communities, claiming they don’t need the higher powers in
America to support themselves.
“Are still here in the rear, ayo, we don't need you”
Since the shooting of the unarmed 17-year-old Travyon Martin back in
2012, there has been an uproar over the number of unarmed Black people
being killed in America, often by police officers. Cases such as the deaths of
Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner have attracted significant
media coverage.
Q-Tip implores the people and the government to find common ground.
When we’re hungry, we all eat the same food—we’re all equal on the basis
that we’re all human. Ramen noodles are cheap and microwaveable, so
everyone can afford them, even broke people and college students.
Tip also plays on the homophones “ramen” and “rhymin',” highlighting
how we can all take refuge in lyrical expression because it is free and
available to everyone.
“You in the killing-off-good-young-nigga mood
When we get hungry we eat the same fucking food
The ramen noodle”
Voodoo is considered good or “white” magic, while juju is considered
bad or “black” magic. This plays into the trope that white symbolizes
good and black symbolizes evil.
Tip implies that white people’s way of operating (“voodoo”) is so crazy
that black people may have to use the opposite in order to achieve
balance and peace.
“Your simple voodoo is so maniacal, we're liable to pull a juju”
Q-Tip criticizes the Internal Revenue Service and condemns their
practices, likening them to a school of piranhas, a carnivorous species of
fish that is known to occasionally attack humans.
Hip hop has a history with tax trouble. Numerous high-profile emcees
have found themselves in the crosshairs of the IRS over the years.
“Living in a fishbowl” represents being stuck in a limited environment.
Many people who live in the hood aren’t able to make it out; it’s like
they’re futilely bumping against the glass. But for the people on the
outside, those with wealth and power, the struggles of the poor are
entertainment.
“The IRS piranha see a nigga gettin' commas
Niggas in the hood living in a fishbowl” ,
“Gentrify here, now it's not a shit hole”
Gentrification is the practice of changing an urban district’s culture by
moving poor people out of their homes so more affluent residents can
move in.
Since these districts tend to be populated by Black people, many see
gentrification as a whitewashing process, removing Blacks from their
homes to transform the hood into something White America can appreciate
instead of fixing the problem that caused Black people to reside there in the
first place.
5. All you Black folks, you must go
All you Mexicans, you must go
And all you poor folks, you must go
Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways
So all you bad folks, you must go
As part of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign platform, he said he
wanted to deport 11 million people, and campaigned heavily on the
promise. In the speech announcing his candidacy, he infamously said:
“When Mexico sends it’s people, they’re not sending their best…They’re
sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those
problems with us.. They’re bringing drugs and crime, bringing rapists. And
some, I assume are good people.”
Many saw his statement as an unfair characterization of Mexicans, as
it implies they are redisposed to crime. Since it’s “difficult to connect
any crime with illegal immigration,” such comments seem to be
informed by racist tendencies instead of reliable data.”
“Bad folks” generalizes all the previously enumerated demographics
in the hook. Q-Tip satirically points out that people wrongly view the
entirety of these demographics as bad.
During the third presidential debate, Donald Trump’s racially divisive
utterance of “bad hombres” offended millions watching the debate.
All of these points create relevance behind the influence to the band
that may have catalysed the careful arrangement of lyrics that then tell
a rather personal story.
[Bridge: Phife Dawg & Q-Tip]
The fog and the smog of news media that logs
False narratives of Gods that came up against the odds
We're not just nigga rappers with the bars
It's kismet that we're cosmic with the stars
Media outlets act to
perpetuate misleading and
prejudiced narratives
about oppressed people,
but ATCQ insist that
they’re more than the
parochial labels imposed
on them. Their kismet (fate
or destiny) is to be up with
the stars—both in the ever-
mysterious cosmos and in
show business.
6. “You bastards overlooking street art
Better yet, street smarts but you keep us off the charts
So motherfuck your numbers and your statisticians
Fuck y'all know about true competition?”
Phife criticizes using numbers and data to determine the success and relevancy of art rather than
common sense and intuition.
The top 40 songs are usually just the most catchy songs, rather than music with a deeper message; these
tracks are not indicative nor representative of “real” music, but get mistaken as such.
“That's like a AL pitcher on deck talking about he hittin'
The only one who's hitting are the ones that's currently spittin”
In Major League Baseball, the American League (AL) pitchers don’t hit, they only pitch, so they tend to be
terrible at hitting when they have to. Phife compares the establishment’s inability to recognize real music
to the AL pitchers' inability to hit
Boy, I tell you that's vision
Phife realises that creating a world where men and women are equal is a huge task. With gender differences such as the wage gap
still a part of our societies, it may take some time; right now it’s just a vision. At least we’re making progress.
“Like Tony Romo when he hitting Witten
The Tribe be the best in they division”
Tony Romo is a quarterback for the NFL team the Dallas Cowboys. During their 2015 game against the New York Giants, Romo passed to
tight end Jason Witten for an 11-yard touchdown with only seven seconds left in the game, giving Dallas a 27-26 victory. It was Romo’s
third touchdown pass of the game and the second time he found Witten in the end zone.
Just like Tony Romo’s Dallas Cowboys have dominated the NFC East division, Phife claims the Tribe are the best in their “division”—the
hip hop game.
7. Ali Shaheed Muhammad is A Tribe Called Quest’s producer and DJ. In turntablism, “cutting” is
scratching a record, so when Phife says Ali “cuts it with precision,” he means that he has excellent
skills as a hip hop DJ.
“Shaheed Muhammad cut it with precision”
Who can come back years later, still hit the shot?
We got it from Here, Thank You 4 Your service marks the musical return of A Tribe Called Quest
after an 18-year hiatus, their previous album being 1998’s The Love Movement.
“Babylon” is a common term in Rastafari culture representing all oppressive forces, including mental
oppression or “the system.” The term originates from the Babylonian Exile, the forced detention of Jews
in Babylon during the 6th century BCE.
“Bloodclot” is a versatile Jamaican insult similar to “fuck” or “motherfucker.” In this case, it is used to
express resentment toward the system.“Two pon yuh headtop” can loosely be translated as “Two in your
dome.”
“Still them tryna move we off the fucking block
Babylon, bloodclot
Two pon yuh headtop”
“Like Tony Romo when he hitting Witten
The Tribe be the best in they division”
Tony Romo is a quarterback for the NFL team the Dallas Cowboys. During their 2015 game against the New York Giants, Romo
passed to tight end Jason Witten for an 11-yard touchdown with only seven seconds left in the game, giving Dallas a 27-26
victory. It was Romo’s third touchdown pass of the game and the second time he found Witten in the end zone.
Just like Tony Romo’s Dallas Cowboys have dominated the NFC East division, Phife claims the Tribe are the best in their
“division”—the hip hop game.
