The
New York City-based Native Tongues crew was a collective of like-minded hip hop artists. They drew influences from artists such as
Gil Scott-Heron,
the Last Poets and
Grandmaster Flash. De La Soul's
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." According to
Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest: "I remember
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." 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
Zulu Nation. By 1989 they had been joined by
Queen Latifah and the United Kingdom's
Monie Love, and soon by the
Black Sheep and
Chi-Ali. 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
crew cuts can be counted on one hand. The various groups grew distant with time, and, by 1993, De La Soul's
Trugoy the Dove proclaimed, "That native shit is dead." A 2020
Vulture article defined the official crew members as:
Jungle Brothers,
De La Soul,
A Tribe Called Quest,
Monie Love,
Queen Latifah,
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,
DJ S.T.R.E.S.S.,
Da Bush Babees,
Common,
the Pharcyde,
Vinia Mojica. ==Legacy==