A Tribe Called Quest "The Low End Theory" [1991]

Apparently, these guys were interested in killing the bop-meets-hop conceit before it even got started. "Jazzmatazz"'s Guru was fond of crediting himself with the idea of combining the two genres, but A Tribe Called Quest had already gone there with "The Low End Theory." Trouble is, ultimately it's a pretty empty premise, especially considering that if rappers were actually musical they'd be singers; neither Q-Tip nor Phife Dawg has the slightest idea what to do with these assorted jazz riffs. So while what they're shooting for is a level of sophistication, like most failed attempts at such things all they're capable of doing is taking potential party music and boring the shit out of everybody with it. But this was still the "In Living Color" era, before gangsta rap destroyed any idea that black guys might have brains enough to not try to kill each other all the time. Still, it's hard to do much with "The Low End Theory" than take issue with why such a deliberately literal lyricist as Q-Tip would want to call himself "The Abstract," how much longer after their bookings did "Arsenio" finally get cancelled, and how broke-ass must upright jazz legend Ron Carter have been to agree to be a part of this whole thing?