People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

Recording began in late 1989 and finished about three months later, with Pubic Enemy and Bonita Applebum the first songs cut. The group chose Calliope Studios because it was known for allowing artistic freedom. The Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Prince Paul with De La Soul, and Stetsasonic were all recording in other rooms at the same time. Q-Tip had made much of the music on pause tapes in tenth grade. Engineer Shane Faber taught him the E-mu SP-1200 and Akai S950 samplers, and Large Professor showed him other equipment. Ali Shaheed Muhammad played the live instruments, scratches and programming, while Q-Tip handled the rest of the production, and he was the only member at every session. Phife Dawg later said he was only on a couple of tracks and was not even on the contract for the first album.

The album draws on jazz, R&B and rock records that most hip-hop producers of the time ignored, and its background texture includes a crying child, frogs and Hawaiian strings. The Source gave it five mics, the first album to receive the magazine's top rating, and NME's Ian McCann wrote, "This is not rap, it's near perfection." It gained momentum only after the singles Bonita Applebum and Can I Kick It?, and was certified gold in the United States on 19 January 1996. When the album was reissued for its 25th anniversary in 2015, with added remixes by Pharrell Williams, J. Cole and CeeLo Green, Pitchfork's Kris Ex described a group that was whimsical yet grounded in reality, and called the music clean and focused next to De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising. Ali Shaheed Muhammad said the album was about having fun and being comfortable in your own skin rather than playing the tough guy.