Mr. Muhammad

Recorded in New York during the 1989–1990 sessions for People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, with A Tribe Called Quest working at Calliope Studios, Battery Studios, and Dumb D.J. Towha’s Dew Drop Inn. The track was built by the group and centers on a processed Earth, Wind & Fire vocal fragment from “Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo Interlude).” “Mr. Muhammad” appeared on A Tribe Called Quest’s debut album, the release that introduced the group’s breezy, sample-driven approach and helped define the Native Tongues era. The album was met with strong critical acclaim and quickly became a landmark of early-’90s alternative hip-hop. The track endures as one of the album’s clearest examples of Tribe’s inventive sample craft, built around a tiny Earth, Wind & Fire snippet that became part of the record’s signature sound. It remains a touchstone for sample-based hip-hop and for later artists drawing on Tribe’s laid-back, melodic style.