115. Mike Robbins Discusses A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory

Send us Fan MailAuthor, speaker and former professional baseball player Mike Robbins introduces Al to A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 album, The Low End Theory. Mike talks about how he was first introduced to ATCQ in high school, the culture shock he experienced hearing unfamiliar music when he went to college and why The Low End Theory has stood the test of time more than 30 years after its release.Keep up with Mike’s podcast, blog and publications at his site: mike-robbins.com.You can also get Mike’s podcast, We’re All In This Together, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/were-all-in-this-together/id1134737783.Be sure to follow Mike on Twitter and Instagram! @mikedrobbinsAl is on Twitter at @almelchiorBB, and this show has accounts on Twitter and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.Subscribe for free to You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter and participate in weekly chats about this podcast’s featured albums! https://youmealbum.substack.com/If you are interested in supporting this podcast, please check out the show’s Patreon site, https://www.patreon.com/youmealbum. Your contributions are greatly appreciated and keep this show going.1:16 Mike joins the show3:31 Mike talks about what initially appealed to him about A Tribe Called Quest9:07 Mike alludes to Q-Tip’s affinity for jazz11:06 Mike talks about the rap community in Oakland12:36 No one listened to rap when Mike went to Stanford15:21 Not all rap from the ‘90s holds up for Mike19:02 Mike distinguishes between the different styles of Q-Tip and Phife Dawg20:58 Rapping is hard23:35 Mike talks about the Native Tongues collective26:00 Hip-hop and basketball were important to Mike growing up, and they were connected26:43 Al likes how the first two tracks set up the album29:41 Al and Mike review some of the sports references made on the album34:21 Mike discusses the different approaches ATCQ took on various tracks37:31 Mike finds “The Infamous Date Rape” both problematic and nuanced44:22 Mike thinks The Low End Theory holds up really well47:17 Al had heard Q-Tip on a guest appearance he made on another band’s album48:29 Mike enjoys artists with eclectic musical backgrounds50:45 Al asks Mike to recommend his next ATCQ album to listen to53:08 Mike’s daughters help keep him current on music54:05 Mike talks about his current and upcoming workSupport the show