The Love Movement is the fifth studio album by American hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, and their last album released during group member Phife Dawg's lifetime. Released on September 29, 1998, by Jive Records, it is a concept album, exploring the lyrical theme of love. Musically, it is a continuation of the group's previous album, Beats, Rhymes and Life, featuring minimalist R&B and jazz-oriented production by The Ummah. The lead single, "Find a Way", charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and was followed by a second single, "Like It Like That". The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 1, 1998. The group announced its disbandment a month before the album's release.

Background

The roots of The Love Movement trace back to early 1997, when Q-Tip produced a beat intended for The Notorious B.I.G.'s album Life After Death. The Notorious B.I.G. enjoyed the beat when it was played for him, however, Life After Death had already been completed and the beat was not used before his death later that year. However, on February 7, 1998, a fire at Q-Tip's home recording studio destroyed his entire record collection and a computer containing many unreleased songs by the group, including collaborations with producer Jay Dee, delaying the album until September of that year. A month before the album's release, the group announced that it was disbanding.

Artwork

For the cover, art director Nick Gamma, who had created the hand lettering for their first two albums, selected symbols that represented sexual positions from the Kama Sutra.

Reception

The Love Movement debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on November 1, 1998, with shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States.

The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Josef Woodard of Entertainment Weekly described it as "a slamming, seductively textured, and tough display of virtuosic rhyming and tale spinning."

The Love Movement was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, presented at the 41st Grammy Awards in 1999.

Track listing

  • All songs produced by The Ummah, except track 11 produced by The Ummah and Bay-Lloyd.

Notes

  • Tracks 1–4, 7, 8, 11, and 13 credited as "initiated by JD of The Ummah".

Samples

Start It Up

  • "Sweet Georgia Brown" by The Singers Unlimited

Find a Way

  • "Technova" by Towa Tei
  • "Flash It to the Beat" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Steppin' It Up

  • "Leo: Rosebud" by Cannonball Adderley

Give Me

  • "Give Me" by I-Level
  • "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men

Pad & Pen

  • "Yearning for Your Love" by The Gap Band
  • "Graduate Medley" by Gap Mangione

Busta's Lament

  • "Goin' Through Changes" by Feather

Hot 4 U

  • "New Horizons" by The Sylvers

Against the World

  • "Jingling Baby" by LL Cool J

The Love

  • "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick
  • "Little Sunflower" by Freddie Hubbard

Rock Rock Y'all

  • "What Can You Bring Me" by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Personnel

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.

  • A Tribe Called Quest – primary artist
  • Busta Rhymes – guest artist
  • D-Life – guest artist
  • Jane Doe – guest artist
  • Mos Def – guest artist
  • Noreaga – guest artist
  • Punchline – guest artist
  • Redman – guest artist
  • Spanky – guest artist, guitar
  • Wordsworth – guest artist
  • Q-Tip – composer
  • James Yancey (Jay Dee) – composer
  • Ali Shaheed Muhammad – composer
  • Phife Dawg – composer
  • The Ummah – engineer, mixing, production
  • David Kennedy – engineer, mixing
  • Tom Coyne – mastering
  • Nick Gamma – art direction, design
  • Ron Croudy – design
  • Pascal Lewis – make-up
  • Robert Maxwell – photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

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!scope="col"|Chart (1998)

!scope="col"|Peak<br/>position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

|align="center"| 133

|-

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian R&B Albums (SoundScan)

|align="center"| 2

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1998)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian Albums (SoundScan)

|197

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian R&B Albums (SoundScan)

|29

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 187

|-

! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)

| 77

|}

Certifications

References