Dis Generation

Album: We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • A Tribe Called Quest praise here some of the new generation of rappers, whom they feel are keeping the spirit of hip-hop alive:

    Talk to Joey, Earl, Kendrick, and Cole

    Q-Tip names Joey Bada$$, Earl Sweatshirt, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole as four contemporary MCs who can be compared to the greats of the 1990s.
  • The "Dis Generation" hook is a vocal sample from the intro of Musical Youth's 1982 reggae hit song "Pass The Dutchie."
  • We Got It From Here… was recorded in secret following ATCQ's successful live comeback on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in November 2015. The group felt charged and decided to record their first record together since 1998's The Love Movement. After Phife's passing in March 2016, the remaining members decided to complete the album, using rhymes left behind by the late MC.
  • Busta Rhymes, a longtime Tribe collaborator , appears on four We Got It From Here… cuts, including the second verse of this track. The New York rapper noted how Q-Tip and Phife were vibing in the studio the way they did in the old days. "I seen them laughing and joking and high-fiving, and you can just see that young, invigorated 'we're-just-getting-our-first-opportunity-to-do-this' energy again!" he told The New York Times.

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