Scenario

The posse cut with Leaders of the New School that launched Busta Rhymes.
A Tribe Called Quest, from The Low End Theory (1992)

Written by
Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Busta Rhymes
Released
March 1992
Length
4:10
Album
The Low End Theory

The third single from The Low End Theory, released in March 1992, features Leaders of the New School. After the chorus come verses from Phife Dawg, Charlie Brown, Dinco D and Q-Tip, who hands the microphone to Busta Rhymes. The group recorded several versions, one of which included Posdnous of De La Soul, Chris Lighty, Jarobi White and Rampage. Busta Rhymes was 19, and his verse is commonly seen as the breakout that led to his solo career. PopMatters' Matt Cibula called it hip-hop's greatest posse cut, and Time put it on its 2017 list of the 100 greatest songs. It samples Brother Jack McDuff's Oblighetto and Jimi Hendrix's Little Miss Lover.

A live performance with Leaders of the New School on The Arsenio Hall Show brought the group wider popularity, and the setlist record shows it played there on 7 July 1992. Jim Swaffield's video is set on an interactive desktop and has cameos from Spike Lee, De La Soul, Kid Capri, Brand Nubian, Fab Five Freddy and Redman. A remix, which appears on the limited edition of The Love Movement, adds newcomer Kid Hood, who was killed two days after recording his verse. The song is in 33 of the 64 logged setlists that list songs, the last at Madison Square Garden on 24 November 2013.

More songs by A Tribe Called Quest

Can I Kick It?, Award Tour, Electric Relaxation, Bonita Applebum, Check the Rhime

Sources

  1. Scenario (song), Wikipedia
  2. The Low End Theory, Wikipedia
  3. A Tribe Called Quest, Wikipedia