Origins of the Native Tongue Posse
By Sean Yoes
Based in New York, the Native Tongue style played down vio-
When violence and misogyny began it’s rampage on rap in the late lence and misogyny and spread positive messages while maintaining
1980’s, the Native Tongue Posse offered an alternative that continues to a hardcore reality. It was a concept put together essentially by one
resonate almost 15 years after the hip-hop collective quietly dissolved. of the founding fathers of hip-hop Afrika Bambaataa.
“Everything shouldn’t be about killing and beating
Hip-hop music like all great art is forged in the crucible of and calling women names...there’s
life. Life happens and we change—”we” meaning us and hip-hop, got to be a bal-
because “We are hip-hop,” as Mos Def so succinctly stated on ance,” Bambaataa
1999’s Black on Both Sides. once said.
In 2007, hip-hop is re-evaluating itself. It does so against a back- Originally,
drop of unprecedented violence—the Virginia Tech Massacre— Bambaataa teamed
intersected with outlandish yet, mundane sexism and racism, the up with the group
human spectacle of Don Imus versus the Rutgers women’s basket- the Jungle Brothers,
ball team. (who released the
So, once again hip-hop, the ultimate music of our times, is on classic, Straight Out
the hot seat; it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. the Jungle in 1988) and
Back in 1988 Ronald Reagan was preparing to exit the nation- an 18-year-old female
al stage after presiding over perhaps the most brutal anti-Black emcee named Queen
presidential regime of the 20th century. Crack had effectively Latifah. The main pur-
imploded America’s ghettos. And hip-hop’s wild child, gangsta’ pose of their collabora-
rap, birthed by Schooly D on the East Coast, was being taken to tion was to promote each
“a whole notha’ level” on the West Coast. other’s projects in order
to obtain mainstream
I’m not a rebel appeal. Arguably, no hip-hop artist has enjoyed more mainstream
or a renegade on a appeal over the years than Latifah. She has not only become a
quest Grammy-winning rapper and singer, but an Oscar-nominated
I’m a nigga’ actress and multi-million dollar advertising pitch woman as well.
with a `S’ on his With the release of All Hail the Queen in 1989, the young woman
chest born Dana Elaine Owens became the first female MC to find
So get the mainstream success. In 1993, Black Reign, which produced the
Kryptonite cos’ I’m hit, “U.N.I.T.Y.,” for which she won a Grammy, became the first
a rip tonight album by a female MC to go gold (500,000 units sold).
Cos’ I’m sca- De La officially joined the Native Tongue Posse in 1989, fol-
rin’ ya, wanted by
Illustrated
by Demon
t Peekas
o
lowed by a trio of Queens, N.Y. teenagers known
America. as A Tribe Called Quest.
-Ice Cube,
“I started work with De La during the recording for the second Stet was targeted at pop culture or Top 40 or Top 10; it just ended up
Tribe members, Q-
“Amerikka’s Most
album. I used to bring the De La guys into the studio with me. We there. It was bizarre,” reflected Paul. Bizarre or not, 3 Feet High and
Tip (Jonathan Davis)
Wanted ”
recorded ‘Plug Tunin’” back in 1987, but it wasn’t released until 1988, Rising became the first big mainstream breakthrough of a
and Phife Dawg
Paul said during an interview in England. very important
(Malik Taylor) grew
Ice Cube, Snoop Doggy
De La, with Paul as their producer, recorded
up together in
Dogg (as he was known then), Dr. Dre, Too
the seminal 3 Feet High and
Queens. They met
Short, et al. had impaled a raw nerve in the body of America’s Black
Rising, which included “Plug
DJ Ali Shaheed
youth. Gangsta rap was an expertly crafted context of rage, bravado
Tunin,” “Say No Go,” and
Muhammad in
and paranoia that allowed young Black men to be heard, while young
“Potholes in My Lawn,” and is
Ba
se
d i
n N
ew Y
or
k, t
he N
at
ive T
on
gu
e s
tyle p
la
ye
d
high school and
White men (by the millions and counting) got off vicariously.
considered an all-time hip-hop
Back East, Public Enemy, KRS-One, Poor Righteous Teachers
do
wn vi
ol
en
ce
an
d m
is
og
yny an
d s
pr
ead p
os
it
ive
formed the
classic. The album, released
group in a 1988.
and the other assorted “prophets of rage,” were losing ground in
in the spring of 1989, created
me
ss
ag
es
wh
il
e m
ain
ta
inin
g a
h
ar
dc
or
e r
ea
li
ty
. I
t
Their first
sales and influence. But, the East Coast consciousness had one more
an eclectic sound laced with
counterpunch, or perhaps counter philosophy, to what was the once
wa
s a c
on
ce
pt p
ut t
og
et
he
r e
ss
en
tiall
y b
y o
ne o
f
album, People’s
humor and unpretentious irony
Instinctive
burgeoning, now ubiquitous gangsta’ genre.
that was the polar opposite of
th
e f
ou
nd
in
g f
at
he
rs o
f h
ip
-h
op A
fr
ik
a B
am
ba
at
aa
.
Travel s and the Paths of
Legendary hip-hop producer Prince Paul joined the pioneering
gangsta’. But, more importantly and popular hip-hop
Rhythm was released in 1990
hip-hop band Stetsasonic as a DJ when he was 16 years old. But he
it was a hit. musical sub-genre known as, “The Native Tongues.”
and yielded the hits, “I Left
eventually hooked up with three other Long Island residents who
“Me, Myself and I,” which brilliantly utilized the
My Wallet in El Segundo,” “Bonita Applebum” and “Can I Kick It?”
were still in high school, Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy the Dove
Funkadelic, “Not Just Knee Deep,” sample was the Catch me breathin’ on planes where the gangstas’ outdated /
However, their next album, The Low End Theory released in 1991 is
(Davey Jolicoeur) and Pacemaster Mase (Vincent Mason) who formed
album’s biggest track. It became a Top 40 pop hit and was No. 1 on F--- being hard Posdnous is complicated.
the groundbreaking hip-hop trio De La Soul.
Continued on page 22
the R&B charts. “When I did 3 Feet High it was never a record that -De La Soul, “In The Woods”
20 Trends A publication of the Afro-American Newspapers A publication of the Afro-American Newspapers Trends 21
TTrends Summer 2007.indd 20-21rends Summer 2007.indd 20-21 55/29/07 12:33:33 PM/29/07 12:33:33 PM
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