A Tribe Called Quest, "Bonita Applebum"

Among hip hop fans, this song is so beloved that a first blush may leave you grasping - not gasping. You may overestimate the lexicon of a man who loads up for “prophylactics,” hoping that, maybe, triple word scores are more profound when left uncounted. I’m sorry to disappoint, but “Bonita Applebum” is an unsatisfactory text for verbal treasure seekers. Rather, it’s essential in that Webster way which Top 10 Lists and Viral Content have diluted.

There’s little ambiguity in a handshake and a smile, and Q-Tip opens by reaching out: “Glad to meet ya.” He follows with light praise: the woman he admires is “cunning” and “stunning,” a veritable “Chief of Affections.” Rapt attention, once earned, is, to borrow a phrase, calm like a bomb. But Q-Tip puts down the detonator. He just wants to be “put on.” A gentle plead - not a beg. The song shoulders up for a caress - and doesn’t overstay its welcome. He departs conveying, again, a nervous desire: “I hope you like rap songs.” More than any other hip hop group, A Tribe Called Quest makes me wonder - How couldn’t you?

And if childlike bashfulness doesn't provide reassurance enough, the metronomic lull of the drums will. A warm handhold to guide you along. A stop-start sound which is all innocent momentum. The production, bare, makes unnecessary speculation cute and an erotic “kiss” and “tell” sincere. Q-Tip has handed us his heart - no rife symbolism to parse. Every syllable in “elaborate” knocks, the dominos of purity piling up. The impression this leaves, a crashing down, is, in the end, a welcome dogpile of hugs. Yes, it’s just the right “tactic” - that is, hardly any tactic applied at all.

So unwind your mind. Let the curves and knots of rhetorical triangles dangle. Just a bit. Just a little while. Be open to this, A Tribe Called Quest’s monument to the essential of hip hop.