View source for Native Tongues

{{Short description|American hip hop collective}}
{{About|the hip hop collective|the Charles Berlitz book|Native Tongues (book)|other uses|Native Tongue (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name              = Native Tongues
| image             = 
| caption           = Native Tongues in 1989
| background        = group_or_band
| origin            = [[New York City]], U.S.
| genre             = {{Hlist|[[Progressive rap]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Kevin C.|date=December 23, 2011|url=https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/q-a-local-artists-pay-tribute-to-native-tongues-rap-acts/article_61a7f8d4-5a87-5d5e-934e-8a4fc316acec.html|title=Q&A: Local artists pay tribute to Native Tongues rap acts|newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|accessdate=July 16, 2021}}</ref>|[[conscious rap]]|[[alternative hip-hop]]|[[psychedelic rap]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tidal.com/magazine/article/psych-rap-history/1-87724 |title=Psych-Rap: A Trippy History: Inside hip-hop's legacy of mind expansion, from acid-rock to A$AP Rocky. |last=Reed |first=Ryan |date= November 10, 2022 |work=Tidal |access-date=2023-08-16}}</ref>}}
| years_active      = 1988–late 1990s
| label             = 
| past_members      = [[Jungle Brothers]]<br>[[De La Soul]]<br>[[A Tribe Called Quest]]<br>[[Monie Love]]<br>[[Queen Latifah]]<br>[[Black Sheep (duo)|Black Sheep]]<br>[[Chi-Ali]]
}}

The '''Native Tongues''' was a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s [[Hip hop music|hip-hop]] artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentric]] lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] and [[jazz]]-influenced beats. Its principal members were the [[Jungle Brothers]], [[De La Soul]], [[A Tribe Called Quest]], [[Black Sheep (duo)|Black Sheep]], [[Monie Love]], and [[Queen Latifah]] and later [[Busta Rhymes]] and [[Mos Def]]. The collective was also closely tied to the [[Universal Zulu Nation]].

The Native Tongues movement inspired later [[alternative hip-hop]] artists such as [[Kanye West]], [[Outkast]], [[the Roots]], [[Lupe Fiasco]], [[Little Brother (group)|Little Brother]], [[Black Eyed Peas]], [[Dead Prez]], [[Camp Lo]], [[Jean Grae]], [[Nappy Roots]], [[Digable Planets]], [[Common (rapper)|Common]], [[Black Star (rap duo)|Black Star]], [[J Dilla]], [[Lauryn Hill]], [[MF Doom]] and [[Pharrell Williams]]. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' cites the track "Doin' Our Own Dang" as "the definitive Native Tongues posse cut".<ref name="Hoard">{{cite book |last=Relic |first=Peter |title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]] |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |edition=4th |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/444 444–45] |chapter=Jungle Brothers |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian}}</ref>

==Naming==
The Native Tongues took their name from a line in the song "African Cry", by Motown-offshoot funk group [[New Birth (band)|New Birth]], which features the lyric, "took away our native tongues".<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.avclub.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-hip-hop-collective-native-tongues-1798239179 | first = Eric|last = Thurm | title = A beginner's guide to hip-hop collective Native Tongues | date = 5 July 2013 | journal = [[The A.V. Club]] | access-date = 20 October 2020}}</ref>

==History==
The [[New York City]]-based Native Tongues crew was a collective of like-minded hip hop artists. Drawing influences from artists such as [[Gil Scott-Heron]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Gus |date=2016-09-24 |title=We Got The Jazz: A Brief & Incomplete History Of Jazz In Hip Hop |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/117486-we-got-the-jazz-a-brief-and-incomplete-history-of-jazz-in-hip-hop-news |access-date=2025-10-08 |website=HotNewHipHop |language=en}}</ref> [[the Last Poets]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Soul Of A Nation - Record Collector Magazine |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/soul-nation |access-date=2025-10-08 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Grandmaster Flash]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=HOW THE NATIVE TONGUES ALTERED THE LANDSCAPE OF HIP-HOP |url=https://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumor-mill/how-the-native-tongues-altered-the-landscape-of-hip-hop |access-date=2025-10-08 |website=www.hitsdailydouble.com |language=en}}</ref>

De La Soul's [[Trugoy|Trugoy the Dove]] recalled: "The Native Tongues came about where, basically, we had a show together in Boston. [De La Soul], Jungle [Brothers] and we linked from there. We had a natural love for the art and a natural love for each other on how we put stuff together. So we invited [the Jungle Brothers] to a session, and when they hooked up with us, we happened to be doing "Buddy." It wasn't business; it wasn't for a check. It was just trading ideas and just seeing what you're doing. Bottom line, it was just having fun."<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://globaltexanchronicles.com/day-of-trugoy-the-dove/ | author = Staff | title = Day of Trugoy The Dove | date = 21 September 2014 | journal = Global Exchange Chronicles | access-date = 27 September 2015}}</ref>

According to [[Q-Tip (musician)|Q-Tip]] of A Tribe Called Quest: "I remember [[Afrika Baby Bam|Afrika [Baby Bam]]] called me that night, like, two in the morning. "Yo these kids, De La Soul, you gotta meet ’em! I swear we're just alike!" I went there, met them, and it was just fuckin' love at first sight. It was disgusting. In hip hop, it praises individualism. I think that's the main achievement of the Native Tongues. It just showed people could come together."<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://consequence.net/2014/01/q-tip-leonardo-dicaprio-and-jonah-hill-are-making-a-tv-show/ | author = Coplan, Chris | title = Q-Tip, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jonah Hill are making a TV show | date = 10 January 2014 | journal = [[Consequence of Sound]] | access-date = 27 September 2015}}</ref>

Fostered by [[Kool DJ Red Alert]], the success of the [[Jungle Brothers]] would pave the way for [[De La Soul]] and [[A Tribe Called Quest]]; together, these three groups would form the core of the crew and continue the spirit of [[Afrika Bambaataa]] and the [[Universal Zulu Nation|Zulu Nation]]. By 1989 they had been joined by [[Queen Latifah]] and the United Kingdom's [[Monie Love]], and soon by the [[Black Sheep (group)|Black Sheep]] and [[Chi-Ali]]. 

{{quote box|quoted=1|quote=If you’re old enough, recall the naive early-'90s moment when young rappers from [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]] and so forth were so brave they considered mellow and humorous a righteous path as well as a commercial ploy.|source=— [[Robert Christgau]], 2019<ref>{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=September 18, 2019|url=https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-guide-september-2019|title=Consumer Guide: September 2019|website=Substack|access-date=September 29, 2019}}</ref>|width=20%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

While featuring an extensive discography, the collaborations of the Native Tongues have been fairly limited: the collective never recorded anything under that name, and the number of notable [[posse cut|crew cut]]s can be counted on one hand. The various groups grew distant with time, and, by 1993, De La Soul's [[David Jude Jolicoeur|Trugoy the Dove]] proclaimed, "That native shit is dead."<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-03-01 |title=Hidden Gems: De La Soul's "Buhloone Mindstate" |url=https://magnetmagazine.com/2012/03/01/hidden-gems-de-la-souls-buhloone-mindstate/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Magnet Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

A 2020 [[Vulture (website)|''Vulture'']] article defined the official crew members as: [[Jungle Brothers]], [[De La Soul]], [[A Tribe Called Quest]], [[Monie Love]], [[Queen Latifah]], [[Black Sheep (group)|Black Sheep]], [[Chi-Ali]].  Honorary members were listed as: [[The Beatnuts]], [[Brand Nubian]], Shortie No Mass, [[J Dilla]], [[Leaders of the New School]], [[Mos Def]], Truth Enola, [[Scott Crary#Music|DJ S.T.R.E.S.S.]], [[Da Bush Babees]], [[Common (rapper)|Common]], [[the Pharcyde]], [[Vinia Mojica]].<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://www.vulture.com/article/new-york-rap-crew-guide.html | author = Brown, Preezy | title = 15 Crews That Defined New York Rap | date = 15 September 2020 | journal = [[Vulture (website)|Vulture]] | access-date = 14 October 2025}}</ref>

==Legacy==
The Native Tongues movement inspired later alt rap artists such as [[Kanye West]], [[Outkast]], [[the Roots]], [[Lupe Fiasco]], [[Little Brother (group)|Little Brother]], [[Black Eyed Peas]], [[Dead Prez]], [[Camp Lo]], [[Jean Grae]], [[Nappy Roots]], [[Digable Planets]], [[Common (rapper)|Common]], [[Black Star (rap duo)|Black Star]], [[J Dilla]], [[Lauryn Hill]], [[MF Doom]] and [[Pharrell Williams]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abrams |first=Jonathan |title=The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop |date=2022 |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group|Crown]] |isbn=9781984825155 |pages=256–57}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shealey |first=Aneesah |title=14 Beats: Alternative Rap – Fourteen East |url=https://fourteeneastmag.com/index.php/2021/02/19/14-beats-alternative-rap/ |access-date=2025-08-27 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-09 |title=20 Rappers That Were Influenced by the Native Tongue Movement |url=https://theboombox.com/20-rappers-influenced-by-native-tongue-movement/ |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=The Boombox |language=en}}</ref>  

In 2019, the [[9:30 Club]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], launched an annual Native Tongues Festival to celebrate the musical legacy of the Native Tongues.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/native-tongue-festival-brings-together-hip-hops-past-and-present/2019/07/19/a517b27e-aa54-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html | first = Julian|last = Kimble | title = Native Tongues festival brings together hip-hop's past and present | date = 19 July 2019 | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | access-date = 20 October 2020}}</ref>

==Members==
*[[Jungle Brothers]] ([[Mike Gee]], Sammy B, [[Afrika Baby Bam]])
*[[A Tribe Called Quest]] ([[Q-Tip (rapper)|Q-Tip]], [[Phife Dawg]], [[Ali Shaheed Muhammad]] and [[Jarobi White]])
*[[De La Soul]] ([[Kelvin Mercer|Posdnuos]], [[David Jude Jolicoeur|Trugoy]], and [[Vincent Mason|Maseo]])
*[[Monie Love]]
*[[Queen Latifah]]
*[[Black Sheep (group)|Black Sheep]] ([[Dres (rapper)|Dres]] and Mista Lawnge)
*[[Chi-Ali]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|last=Tyler|first=Kieron|date=September 29, 2019|url=https://theartsdesk.com/new-music/reissue-cds-weekly-daisy-age|title=Reissue CDs Weekly: The Daisy Age|website=[[The Arts Desk]]|access-date=October 4, 2019}}
*[http://www.tangents.co.uk/tangents/main/2006/july/reason30.html "They Made Magic"] at Tangents.co.uk
*[http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.11627/title.consequence-talks-good-music-release-day-reveals-native-tongues-lost-lp "Consequence Q & A at HipHopDX, June 30th 2010"] at HipHopDX.com

==External links==
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p541437}}

{{A Tribe Called Quest}}
{{Black Sheep (hip hop duo)}}
{{Busta Rhymes}}
{{De La Soul}}
{{Jungle Brothers}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Native Tongues members|*]]
[[Category:Hip-hop collectives]]
[[Category:East Coast hip-hop groups]]
[[Category:Progressive rappers]]
[[Category:Psychedelic rap groups]]
[[Category:1988 establishments in New York City]]