A Tribe Called Quest - Check the Rhime [1-28-93]

[Stereo] Great performance on late night USTV.
Date above was the repeat broadcast. The actual appearance was on 3-25-92.

[@TheLordAI]

This was the performance where Phifer was performing while he was sick, as his blood sugar levels were sky high, but he got through it!!!

[@LGKids]

+thelordai gat Todays tryers, if they hit their toe on the side of the bed, they are shutting down whole tours! Phife Dawg always a trooper! Peace!

[@soulavenue8]

Yeah you can definitely tell, if you know how he usually performs, and they usual speed of his flow, speech is a little slurred. He still did the damn thing tho! Rocked the mic!

[@melayahgaither5936]

yea, ikr it's a good thing he got thru the performance!!! he did good tho

[@djrolo07]

Yep, can def tell he was pushing thru it. Damn, miss Phife. So glad I got to see them perform a couple times before he passed.

[@blacknoir607]

Was it type 1?

[@deejkdeejk]

"Uhm, uh, a tidbit--uhm, a smidgen," is probably my favorite line. Flow is on point despite Phi's dilemma with diabetes.

[@dawisetroll4341]

Demetrius Kent you right

[@gilbert2567]

yessir

[@vestspet4242]

What I love the most about the Tribe is that they weren't afraid to perform with musicians playing real instruments.

[@vestspet4242]

@Perverted Alchemist I know isn't it amazing. My favorite Q-Tip album is Kamaal the Abstract because of the real instruments that were played on it.

[@13Rose]

The band was on POINT!

[@joseduran4437]

13Rose all the time;)

[@xVOODxWUxDOOMx]

Once again

[@TheIcpfan23]

@Day One Mastering this was before the roots and the band still killed it

[@saturncrush]

dominic hocutt Sounded exactly like the samples. The Roots are dope...but don’t front on Paul (super pro)!!

[@marcushaupt1564]

Paul Schaefer was always a top-flight pro, the goofiness was an act. The horns were killing it

[@bigphatty5298]

Phife was really sick during this and still rapped better than 99% of new rappers live.

[@geraldjohnson3216]

Yes

[@samsara2521]

That’s so depressing

[@richard1849]

R.I.P. Hear you...

[@DeeDeeKhan]

yooo this acoustic version is freakin dope, that bassline

[@troygagnon9079]

DeeDeeKhan thats sampled from Minnie Riperton's track - Baby, this love I have. Such a killer tune and sample!

[@Arcademan09]

I love how the background band was really into it

[@GenzoKim]

Everybody enjoying it🥺💟

[@seamus2076]

Cuz it's dope!

[@Arcademan09]

@@seamus2076 I never said it wasn't, I just appreciate the energy they give

[@MustafaAhmadahmadmawia]

this was dope Dave was always open to rappers coming on and his band was always on point

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

All the time

[@ayshajajaja]

I'm 14 and I just found these guys, best I've heard so far

[@OnlyOriginalSongs]

you should listen rakim to

[@Goddamgoodamerican]

Check out schooly d just-ice kool moe d

[@ayshajajaja]

I’m 18 now yall and still listening !!

[@thrive4ever]

@@ayshajajaja haha likewise

[@rivers9957]

@@ayshajajajathats wassupp bro

[@hwicfilmworks]

RIP PHIFE - Thanks for the memories!

[@PlatformJunkie]

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen

[@sthunda7132]

I love Paul's energy in this.

[@davidmartinez9804]

Yea he looks like a fan and blends right in.

[@alexbaum2204]

He played his part perfectly too. Didn’t over play. Just hit that little note in between the beats the whole way through. Just right.

[@kiddkevo]

This was early 1992 according to their Docmentary. RIP Phife. The world misses you.

[@dylanbald7545]

kiddkevo what's the name of the documentary?

[@kiddkevo]

Beats, Rhymes And Life documentary film

[@barrymurphy4812]

Wow did not know this was on the documentary, seen it twice too.

[@dani.munoz.a23]

Read the description

[@sherman8r1998]

Matching black and white AF1’s, so dope

[@greenfloyd5114]

Lol was thinkin the same thing man I remember those, I still got them shits

[@ejicon]

A hip hop group using a live band on a live talk show!? Money!

[@julesc296]

Early!

[@TheTayedrums]

@@julesc296 this is the best when its a real band...

[@40TheFreshMan]

rip phife dawg

[@milkking789]

Lost a true one for real homie

[@jordanboxman]

Nothing on the radio and I mean NOTHING will ever be as good as Tribe.

[@matthiashabinger5053]

Yeah man.

[@meyou5789]

Aint list to the radio since 1997, and I will tell you there has been just as good stuff as Tribe since after this came out tho. The Fugees - The Score came out in 1996, De La Soul - Stakes Is High, Outkast - ATLiens, Wu-Tang Forever 1997, Gangstarr - Moment of Truth 1997...All good shit .

[@drstew1]

Talk about how to involve the whole band, watching this live must of been breath taking... original through and through respect r.i.p phife dawg (Malik Izzak Taylor)

[@STEINYY]

Stewart Harvey-Wilson true dat wish I was there

[@drstew1]

Late reply i know. But i must share this ,one evening i got to see them when they came to London Subterania Ladbroke Grove. Its was a warm up jam for their gigs in the UK ,they did a whole set with the Roots.and God Father of Noise Rahzel Oh my me, it was up close loud and just feet away . I like everyone there totally blown away. Tribe roots Razel did free style the lot unbelievable. Unforgettable.

[@ptm4444]

Tomorrow will be 31 years exactly ❤

[@TheMediaAnarchist]

i love these guys with all my heart. one of the greatest of all time!

[@hamcheesesalami]

The instruments are great, love that saxaphone

[@cehayes74]

It helps when you have one of the members of AWB playing as well 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 !!!

[@GasolineSmellsGood]

Yo it's hard to make hip-hop sound good live. the tribe did of course, i'd expect no less

[@fothgt]

And if you see the doc done about them by actor Michael Rappaport you will find out the Phif did this performance with a high diabetes count, hence the slow movement and slurred speech, They flew from NY to do the Dennis Miller show in LA the next night and Phif could not perform, Check out the doc on a Tirbe Called Quest.

[@InviteTheLightReadings]

lmao! so true - and you know this song on the album is nothing short of straight classic beats - alone!

[@timsanpedro1219]

rap is not pop if you call it that then stop

[@Peyote1312]

It’s really not that hard. Rappers just don’t care about anything but getting paid, so they will hire one DJ to play their instrumentals instead of getting a few talented musicians for a live band.

[@ryanmelnick8793]

@@Peyote1312 Four thumbs down...Your trolling needs Jesus. Bombaclot fool. Now scram! Back to your cage. Begone demon! (insert classic fart noise)

[@1966toronado]

Now that's how you rock a crowd. RIP Phife ........Lengends

[@stlouis521]

You can tell.phife belonged in the hospital. The definition of putting your everything in your craft. This shit makes me tear up

[@johnhargett569]

I remember actually watching this I was a senior un highschool.Wow those were the days.

[@robin3]

The Bassist killed it.

[@shmiqqy]

Dynamic duo as MCs, and Ali makes them one of the most awesome hiphop trios we'll ever have.

[@dantereliford923]

My all-time favorite Phife Dawg quote is “Let me hit it from the back, girl I won’t catch a hernia / Bust off on your couch, now you got Seaman’s Furniture.” #phifedawg #rip the 5 footer!

[@ivorymorgan6405]

+Dante Reliford Bo knows this, and Bo knows that/ but Bo don't know jack, cuz Bo can't rap

[@lpurnell4827]

That's my line too! Some people had never even heard of the furniture outlet Seamans! Genius!

[@19brittani]

@@lpurnell4827 used to be a store in georgia back in the 80s and 90s. it used to make me laugh when i first heard the line. still very good now.

[@lpurnell4827]

@@19brittani I bought a dark green leather couch from that store in 1994!

[@jimmyjimbo72]

Definitely my favourite A Tribe Called Quest song; the flow is amazing!

[@lwebb39]

*Side note: in the band, Roger Ball, on the alto sax from the group AWB, who played on the original track “Love your life”, which was a portion of the horn line used for the main sample.

[@shawn4ever77]

You know I never seen this before but this was an AWESOME PERFORMANCE! Paul Scheffer and the CBS Orchestra was LIT! Thanks for posting this! 😁👍

[@whatsforafters7843]

My pleasure! Too good not to share :) Thanks for the note of appreciation, and glad you enjoyed it. Peace!

[@GMANKOOL23]

This isn't the late show , it's late night , back when Letterman used to be on NBC , and the band was known as " The Most Dangerous Band In The World In The World " . Once Dave switched networks , NBC kept intellectual property of the band's name .

[@barrymurphy4812]

OMG!!!! Never seen this before and I thought I had seen all there old footage. Thankyou for the post 😊👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@txtrang2515]

ATCQ much respect! One of the few groups that could rock a crowd w/ clean content.

[@jesamani75]

Always loved watching Dave Letterman show because of the band and the collaborations they did with numerous artists and this one is top notch.

[@julesc296]

Never been repeated as genuine as it was back then with Letterman + Paul and the band.. The interaction and integration alone was phenomenal... Let alone Paul's quick wit hovering not so far from Dave's, ultimately complementing/ combining to be the experience that it was... They sat above the corny basic shit they had to say/pervay... Norm Macdonald highlights Dave's high level intellect, while portraying the everyday man approach to comedy and is beyond spot on... Never gained intellectual/vocabulary knowledge from any other late show host within the hijinks other than from Dave... Quisling being a standout, then Norm's ability to play the everyman in return while pretending not to understand is a late night reverse/faux level of intellectual back n forth that I truly believe will never be surpassed in these BS times.. Also Norm n Conan n Craig are amazing but different levels comparatively with the pretend to be dumb for relatability sake approach due to unrelatable levels of intelligence... Genius!

[@LGKids]

I love how any band they play with just catch their vibe and its on from there.....................Peace!

[@giancarloricci2428]

Damn Phife was off. The look on Q-Tip's face at 1:45 is hilarious

[@LeoJMathews]

+Giancarlo Ricci In the movie Phife talked about how his diabetes was so bad at that point that whole performance felt like it was in slow motion. He really struggled through it

[@doctorjules187]

+Leo Mathews Poor phife is prob in DKA while this is happening. Brutha needs some insulin!

[@crackmanjones3690]

Lmao Classic

[@MjSa-es4zu]

@@LeoJMathews what movie is this?

[@RTDavis0503]

He was mad sick with diabetes in this performance. He almost didn't perform

[@enzoholmes2013]

Anyone in 2021? I can't be the only one....

[@taylormarchand2497]

RIP Phife. Thanks for the music

[@JustBreakingBreadTV]

Classic.... Even back then they rocked with a live band.... Everyone was included, having a good time. Awesome.

[@kincamell2]

Much Gratitude

[@fredstah714]

I still be listening to this in my 80’s. Legend.

[@Sfxfreestyle]

Even though Phife struggles in this performance, he stills get through it. I never see him in greatest rappers of all time lists, even though he and Tip are more than capable of being at least top 20 (IMO top 5, but anyways) compared to any other rappers

[@DoomerNavajo7]

The first time I've seen instruments used to play the beat, that's really cool to see

[@lucasm3879]

Thankyou Tribe Called Quest for making the world better. Love those guys 🙏👊👌✌

[@icecoldcube2823]

Greatest, most talented and passionate group ever. The main reason I love hip hop.

[@picklerick8239]

I love my dude..Phife would always pick up the phone never let the fame get to his head... a great mentor. I miss u Malik Thank you for your wisdom. It was a blessing knowing u my brother. I will be with you all soon

[@mauricelay1412]

We still miss phife dawg

[@rafaelmedeiros5283]

This is so fantastic

[@BenThuAlot]

Safe to say, this is the first Tiny Desk Concert.. Btw, Paul killed it.. RIP Phifer

[@FifeFamily]

This is such a good live performance, ahead of its time. So fun to see the late show band playing! Drummer is tight in the groove!

[@FifeFamily]

I do wish the sax's would've hit that funky note at the end of each phrase...it sounds more polished here.

[@LaughterCigar]

"Here's a funky introduction of how nice I am", and with Phife it was damn funky up until his last day.

[@eduardom.8766]

“You on point Phife-all the time Tip.” (RIP to the five footer.)

[@Here4TheHeckOfIt]

🙌 Incredible group!

[@heartnsoullove]

Love watching this live performance!

[@Dmaccabees]

That was a dope performance!...i never seen this..lol

[@theoutsiders7784]

This is a Treasure

[@likethat362]

When that beat drop, I get goosebumps every time

[@Blahzay20]

Miss you Phife... Bless you.

[@l1fty]

Great. The saxes and organ sound great too

[@marcomb1913]

That real lo fi production you can hear the vinyl in the recording’s phenomenal

[@DJTonyOKay]

Man, this is so fun to watch

[@gabrielbergman1986]

YA ON POINT PHIFE, ALL THE TIME TIP Rest in peace Phife

[@ivalinapasse2469]

The Funking Introduction Yes !!!!

[@sincere1487]

Rest and Peace to.Phife Dawg we lost a great artest.

[@thezanily]

God rest your soul Phife ❤ A Tribe Called Quest forever ❤

[@exploringwithmike4237]

This is so lit, atcq live and on cd are great, and live is awesome, because they just make it so fun, there ain't words for it.

[@Blktxdom2004]

Quest brought Dave’s band into the segment. Let’s see the crews today doing this! RIP Phifer!

[@msladylibra8373]

Rip Phife my FAVORITE Rap group never saw this performance it's 🔥 they where lyrically ON POINT period to me ❤

[@illvenom83]

This was da good old days when everyone had a good time with friends and family dats was da time back in da days was da shit now da the world all f***** up we got to get together and see life a little bit better and God bless y'all and keep your head up high

[@michellekniles4681]

Just heard some devastating news RIP Phife long time fan

[@tylergetsdown]

Paul Shaffer was having way too much fun with this

[@elvine2149]

The hip hop group, it's a pleasure to listen these guys

[@nimrodery]

Straight up, this is why it was the World's Most Dangerous Band. I don't think I've ever seen Branford Marsalis play Hip Hop, let alone rip it like that.

[@doncatalog]

Dearly missed as a group, and we surely will miss The Foot Footer#RIPPhife

[@TheTayedrums]

no cussing--no n words...just good rappin...

[@halcop]

2024 and I still can't enough of this.🔥🔥

[@harryveras7486]

The Class of hip hop , rip 5

[@Aluvsloans]

We love y’all 🙏🏾🔥Queens Get THE MONEY 💴

[@juancarras1]

muchas gracias

[@dillondavis4996]

this and digable planets are probably the best live TV talk show performances of any hip hop group

[@palmtrees5459]

God damn legendary

[@NYCBostero]

Phife fucked up at 1:43 hahahaha!! Love this track. Thanks for the upload.

[@whatsforafters7843]

+NYCBostero Thanks for taking the time to write a note of appreciation! Happy this clip is making so many people thrilled :)

[@rijsberman]

+NYCBostero he killed it after that tho!

[@hepdrip]

+NYCBostero He was sick at the time.

[@melayahgaither5936]

+Movado yea he was

[@cralkiller]

He didn't fuck up, he had to leave a blank space due the censorship and it was a live performance. (Slayed is similar to murder, so it was forbidden).

[@lee_tora]

Congratulations on your 31st anniversary. A true fan in Seoul, Korea

[@dankgummy]

love the horns...woo

[@skittrokerwarior]

Even if the record skips, phife still rips! Rest in Beats.

[@maz2alaf]

Was just thinking about this performance, thinking u would never see it again...smh...ain't the Internet something? Oh, and I'm really gonna miss DAVE!

[@yaseinbrat94]

I miss this music, this masterful poetic art. The evolution of this art is in de-evolution.

[@drakkuza]

3:16 Lol, Abstract’s voice crack.

[@akepeleapparel]

That CD box!

[@Huumf]

The nikes ❤️

[@joeymadara7266]

rip Phife dawg, 5 foot assassin. great to see this wish I wasn't 22 days old when this was happening. I miss all the good. now he be spitting with biggie with j dilla making their beats in heaven

[@vizzel1000]

Yeah If u seen the documentary of A Tribe Called Quest Q-Tip didn't even know if Phife Dawg was going to be able to perform that night because he was sick. He decided at the last minute that he was going to perform.

[@DaOldSchoolRapLova96]

Damn this was the performance where phife dawg said his diabetes were fucked up on the beats rhymes and life documentary.

[@raiders7528]

Real Music!!!!!!

[@twohamburgers]

Paul sat in with Tribe!! haha - they are hip hop kings - just soooo good and fun and conscience

[@terrellcarey6178]

ATCQ and The World's Most Dangerous Band!

[@gabrielanajera4384]

Look, kids, INSTRUMENTS! It's where music comes from! Tribe was always on point.

[@JDeissreVIEWSFROMHELL]

Are you implying electronics aren't instruments? It's not like they're the ones playing the instruments anyway

[@OnlyGreatness007]

And no Auto-Tunes!

[@alaza61]

Well, they're on a late night show that has a house band. The group actually used SAMPLES on their albums though.

[@BurningSilverRose]

Nothing makes you sound cooler than being condescending.

[@athiedoll]

Shut the fuck up man

[@boomboxmartian]

Phife was such a dang trooper. Such a good performance by everyone.

[@SimonJefferis]

Insane...

[@Schweinehaus]

that was fireworks... excellence