Who are the 71 faces on A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders’?
A Tribe Called Quest dropped their third album, Midnight Marauders, in 1993. The legendary New York group, consisting of Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg and Jarobi White, followed up 1990’s People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and 1991’s The Low End Theory with another classic.
Released on Jive Records, Midnight Marauders was centred around jazz, funk, soul and R&B samples. Considered one of the greatest albums ever, it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200, led by singles ‘Award Tour’, ‘Electric Relaxation’ and ‘Oh My God’. It became their first album to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1995.
When it comes to A Tribe Called Quest, music is never the sole focus. Before disbanding around Phife’s death and the release of 2016’s We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, the group always carefully crafted their artwork.
Midnight Marauders was no exception. Photographed by Terrence A Reese, the cover continued the artistic theme of The Low End Theory by depicting a woman painted in Afrocentric colours, combined with yellow writing showing the group’s name and the album title in front. Behind it all are black-and-white photos of various hip-hop musicians and radio DJs.
The cover was issued in three colour schemes: red, green, and black, the rarest of them all. While not everyone can be identified from the front, the back cover provides a clear look at each artist, featuring some legends of the genre. 71 of them, in fact.
The decision to include fellow rappers on their album is a testament to the legacy A Tribe Called Quest created for themselves throughout their six studio albums, serving as one of the most inspiring acts in hip-hop history.
So, who are the 71 faces on ‘Midnight Marauders’ by A Tribe Called Quest?
The faces on the artwork for Midnight Marauders include 3rd Bass, Afrika Bambaataa, AMG, Ant Banks, Beastie Boys, Awesome Two, Black Moon, Busta Rhymes, Casual, Chi-Ali, Chubb Rock, Chuck D and The Cold Crush Brothers.
Elsewhere, Daddy-O of Stetsasonic, Dallas Austin, Del the Funky Homosapien, Diamond D, De La Soul, Doctor Dré, Doug E Fresh, Fab Five Freddy, Grandmaster Dee of Whodini, Grandmaster Flash, Heavy D, Ice-T, Jazzy Jay, DJ Jazzy Joyce, Jungle Brothers, Kid Capri, Kool DJ Red Alert, Kool Moe Dee, Large Professor, Litro, Lords of the Underground and MC Lyte also appear in the artwork.
There’s also Neek the Exotic, Organized Konfusion, The Pharcyde, Rashad Smith, Rock Steady Crew (Crazy Legs, Mr Wiggles, Pee Wee Dance and Ruel), DJ Ron G, DJ Silver D, Diddy, Skeff Anselm, Souls of Mischief, Special Ed, Sweet Tee, Too Short and Zulu Nation Supreme Council.
During an interview with Funk Flex on Hot 97, Diddy once explained how he ended up as one of Midnight Marauders‘ faces years before releasing an album. “It ain’t make no sense. Like, we not from the same neighbourhood,” he said. “I was always in the right place. They was having a photoshoot for the album. Somehow, I was there.”