As well as Wu-Tang Clan and many others that are celebrating 20 years in the game, A Tribe Called Quest is celebrating their release of Midnight Marauders! In a recent Myspace feature a few days ago, Black Milk, Jean Grae, Phonte, Pharoahe Monch, and a slew of artists chime in on the memories they had with listening to the album coming up. Check out the comments below.

Phonte: “The first time I heard Midnight Marauders I was on the bus on my way to a wrestling match. I was in ninth grade in high school. I had the tape and for some reason I just put it in and the introduction came on—[Mimics female announcer voice] “Hello, this is your Midnight Marauder program…”—and I was like, What is this shit? It’s crazy! I let it play and I remember turning the tape over and hearing “Electric Relaxation” and, man, it was over. I don’t even remember if we won the wrestling match that day.”

Jean Grae: “I have to go with ”Electric Relaxation” [for my favorite track]. It changed everything. First off, how do you come from “Bonita Applebum,” the pinnacle of rap love songs, and then come up with this shit?! These guys are assholes, lol. It was almost impossible to top that. Then to come with such a New York video—shot in the Village—it was so relatable. I wanted to write great rap love songs in my own way but that made you feel that way.”

Black Milk: “I probably discovered Tribe in elementary school. I can’t remember if [Midnight Marauders] really got heavy rotation on the radio back then, but it was definitely on MTV and BET. Plus, my older cousins used to always play Tribe. They’d bust a rhyme here and there, made beats. That’s where I got a lot of my musical influences and knowledge in the beginning, from being around them all the time.”

Oddisee: “I remember buying it on tape and going to visit my cousin at his house in Langley Park, MD, and when I got to his house, I was like, “Yo, I got this new Tribe album,” and he was like, “I got it too!” We then called our other cousin, and he was like, “I got it too!” We proceeded to all play the song at the same time. We ended up competing to see who could first memorize the lyrics to the song while also knowing exactly what the hook was saying. I ended up winning.”

A MUST READ: As ‘Midnight Marauders’ Turns 20, 16 Artists Reflect On A Classic

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