People's Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm

People's Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm is the debut alternative hip hop album by A Tribe Called Quest, released on April 17, 1990 (see 1990 in music). Though the album was well-received critically, it had little mainstream appeal. It did earn the band a devoted following however, within the alternative hip hop community. People's Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm was praised for its lyrical inventiveness and bizarre sense of humor, mixed with socially aware and literate message tracks.

The album was recorded at Calliope Studios, Battery Studios and Dumb D.J. Towha's DewDrop Inn, New York.

Critical praise was generally positive, but many felt that the group's effort was immature and unfocused. John Bush of allmusic writes "Tribe perhaps experimented too much on their debut, but they succeeded at much of it, certainly enough to show much promise as a new decade dawned". Rolling Stone magazine's Chuck Eddy found the album "one of the least danceable albums" in hip hop, and said that the performers sounded bore.

Track listing

• "Push It Along" (Tribe Called Quest) - 7:42
• "Luck of Lucien" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:32
• "After Hours" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:39
• "Footprints" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:00
• "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:06
• "Pubic Enemy" (Tribe Called Quest) - 3:45
• "Bonita Applebum" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:11
• "Can I Kick It?" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:52
• "Youthful Expression" (Tribe Called Quest) - 4:01
• "Rhythm (Devoted to the Art of Moving...)" (Tribe Called Quest) - 3:33
• "Mr. Muhammad" (Tribe Called Quest) - 5:27
• "Ham 'n' Eggs" (Tribe Called Quest) - 3:54
• "Go Ahead in the Rain" (Tribe Called Quest) - 3:54
• "Description of a Fool" (Tribe Called Quest) - 5:41

Chart positions

Billboard Music Charts - album

Billboard Music Charts - singles

Personnel

• A Tribe Called Quest - Producer, Mixing
• Tim Latham - Engineer
• Ali Shaheed Muhammad - DJ
• Bob Power - Engineer
• Q-Tip - Vocals
• Anthony Saunders - Engineer
• Dr. Shane Faber - Engineer
• Jarobi - Performer
• Phife Dawg - Vocals
• Ari Marcopoulos - Photography