ATCQ don't get the props they deserve in 2012; a shame, as they are one of the great lyrical hip-hop acts.
Formed in 1985, members are Q-Tip (Kamaal Fareed), Phife Dawg aka Phife Diggy (Malik Taylor), and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 1991. Along with De La Soul, the group was a central part of the Native Tongues Posse (that also included the Jungle Brothers and De La Soul), and enjoyed the most commercial success out of all the groups to emerge from that collective. Many of their songs, such as Bonita Applebum, Can I Kick It?, I Left My Wallet in El Segundo, Scenario, Check the Rhime, Jazz (We've Got), Award Tour and Electric Relaxation are classics.
They released five albums between 1990 and 1998 and then disbanded that year, as they wanted to persue solo careers. In 2006, they reunited and toured the US, and released The Lost Tribes, a compilation of unreleased and rare material. The group are pioneers of alternative hip-hop music and have undoubtedly helped to pave the way for innovative hip-hop artists.
Now you've seen the video, you're no doubt thinking why is Q-tip wearing a burn mask? I've found two different explanations.
The first one is (incredibly) that he was beaten up by Teddy Riley and crew over the line:
"strictly hardcore tracks, not a new jack swing" in the song We Got the Jazz. The injuries he incurred couldn't be covered by make-up, hence the mask. More of an urban myth, to be honest, and anyway, It wasn't even 'Tip's line, but Phife's.
Another much more plausible (and accepted) explanation is Q-Tip didn't want to do a video for the song and that Paramount Pictures (the film's studio) and Jive Records (ATCQ's label) consented the group's availability against their wishes, so he wore the mask as a protest.
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