# We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
*We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service* is the sixth and final studio album by the American hip-hop group [A Tribe Called Quest](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-tribe-called-quest), released on November 11, 2016 by [Epic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/epic-records). It was the group's first album in eighteen years, following 1998's *The Love Movement*, and it was completed after the March 2016 death of founding member Malik "Phife Dawg" Taylor from complications of diabetes.[1](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) Released 72 hours after the result of the 2016 [United States presidential election](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-presidential-election), it became the group's first number-one album in twenty years.[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) • [3](https://time.com/4579104/a-tribe-called-quest-album-sales/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 11, 2016, Epic Records; sixth and final A Tribe Called Quest album, first since *The Love Movement* (1998)[1](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service-mw0002991830) |
| Length | 16 tracks, 01:00:18 total duration, recorded at Ablab, New Jersey[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service-mw0002991830) |
| Production | Produced by Q-Tip, with recording at his home studio in New Jersey; mixed by David Kennedy with Blair Wells and Q-Tip[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) • [5](https://www.largeup.com/2017/01/09/interview-engineer-david-kennedy/amp/) |
| Guests | Busta Rhymes, Consequence, André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, Elton John, Talib Kweli, Anderson .Paak, and Kanye West, among others[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/we-got-it-from-herethank-you-4-your-service/a-tribe-called-quest) |
| Commercial debut | 135,000 album units in its first week, including 112,000 traditional sales; the group's first number-one album in 20 years[3](https://time.com/4579104/a-tribe-called-quest-album-sales/) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic Metascore of 91, "universal acclaim", based on 26 critic reviews, all positive[6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/we-got-it-from-herethank-you-4-your-service/a-tribe-called-quest) |
| Phife Dawg | Died March 2016 during the recording; holds a writing credit on all sixteen tracks[1](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) • [7](https://www.rapreviews.com/2016/11/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) |
## Background and reunion
A Tribe Called Quest had disbanded after 1998's *The Love Movement*, and the group's internal tensions were documented in [Michael Rapaport](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-rapaport)'s 2011 documentary *Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest*.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) The reunion began with a performance on *The Tonight Show* in November 2015, staged to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1990 debut *People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm* and presided over by Questlove of The Roots.[9](https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2018/02/19/tribe-called-quest-beats-rhymes-and-life) • [10](https://www.okayplayer.com/the-secret-history-of-a-tribe-called-quests-final-album/778159) Q-Tip said in a handwritten letter posted to fans on Instagram that after leaving 30 Rock following the taping, the members felt the need to get back in the studio and start recording; the session produced the album announced in October 2016.[1](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/)
**Phife Dawg's death.** Malik "Phife Dawg" Taylor died in March 2016 from complications related to a longtime battle with diabetes, before the project was finished.[1](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) In Q-Tip's announcement, Phife "left us with the Blueprint of what we had to do", and longtime associates [Busta Rhymes](https://www.edgepedia.org/busta-rhymes) and Consequence joined the remaining members to complete what he described as "obviously the final A Tribe Called Quest album".[1](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) Phife had been recording the album in secret with Q-Tip and [Ali Shaheed Muhammad](https://www.edgepedia.org/ali-shaheed-muhammad), and according to RapReviews the album's title was his choice.[7](https://www.rapreviews.com/2016/11/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) Despite his death mid-project, he holds a writing credit on all sixteen tracks.[7](https://www.rapreviews.com/2016/11/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/)
## Recording
Recording took place at Q-Tip's home studio in New Jersey, with Q-Tip as producer; the site is listed in discographic records as Ablab, NJ.[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service-mw0002991830) FACT reports that Q-Tip spent over six months finishing the album after the guests' parts were gathered.[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) Engineer David Kennedy, who had engineered the group's previous album *The Love Movement*, was brought in through Q-Tip's longtime collaborator [Gary Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-harris) and handled the mixes with co-producer Blair Wells; Kennedy recalled that the tracking was largely Blair Wells' work, with the mixing pushed through at the end.[5](https://www.largeup.com/2017/01/09/interview-engineer-david-kennedy/amp/)
The guest list joined the group's inner circle with a generation of artists they influenced. Busta Rhymes and Consequence appear as longtime affiliates, and [Kendrick Lamar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendrick-lamar) (on "Conrad Tokyo"), André 3000 (on "Kids..."), [Jack White](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-white), Elton John (on "Solid Wall of Sound"), Talib Kweli, and [Anderson .Paak](https://www.edgepedia.org/anderson-paak) all contribute.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/13/tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/we-got-it-from-herethank-you-4-your-service/a-tribe-called-quest)
## Music and themes
The opening track, "The Space Program", frames its social commentary through a science-fiction premise: Pitchfork quotes its central conceit that "there ain't no space program" for Black Americans, with Q-Tip later wryly remarking "Imagine if this shit was really talkin' about space, dude", reading the song as a metaphor for gentrification.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) The follow-up "We the People..." attacks exclusionary political platforms through a satirical hook in which Q-Tip voices the expulsion of [Black people](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-people), Mexicans, poor people, Muslims, and gay people; Pitchfork notes that the hook echoed Donald Trump's campaign positions in ways it would not have under a Clinton victory.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) • [12](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/tribe-called-quests-service-review/story?id=43532854)
__Memorial songs__ run through the record without making Phife's death its single theme. "Lost Somebody", written after his passing, carries verses from Q-Tip and [Jarobi White](https://www.edgepedia.org/jarobi-white) remembering Phife, with a chorus from Katia Cadet, and samples the German rock band Can alongside a Jack White guitar part.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/13/tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review) • [13](https://ckut.ca/music/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) The closing track "The Donald" is, despite its title, not about Trump: Busta Rhymes proclaims Phife's rhyming mastery in his native Jamaican flow, honoring the nickname "Don Juice".[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/13/tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review) • [14](https://www.ftc.edu/forms/Dec_2016_Record_web.pdf) Pitchfork observes that the album has no overriding story or vocal guide in the manner of *Midnight Marauders*, and that the title itself is never explicitly explained within the record.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/)
Musically, the album is described as deliberately analog, extending the group's jazz-influenced approach rather than chasing current trends; FACT notes sample elements drawn from [Black Sabbath](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-sabbath), the Nairobi Sisters, and Can woven into live instrumentation, while Pitchfork highlights how Phife and Busta Rhymes dip in and out of Caribbean patois and Black American slang.[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) • [8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/)
## Release and reception
The album arrived on November 11, 2016, 72 hours after the election result, and was heard for the first time at a listening session at MoMA PS1 in Queens on November 9, two days after the election.[2](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/) • [10](https://www.okayplayer.com/the-secret-history-of-a-tribe-called-quests-final-album/778159) It moved 135,000 album units in its first week in the United States, 112,000 of them traditional album sales, giving A Tribe Called Quest their first number-one album in twenty years, per Billboard figures reported by Time.[3](https://time.com/4579104/a-tribe-called-quest-album-sales/)
**Critical response** was strongly favorable. Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 91, its "universal acclaim" band, based on 26 critic reviews with all 26 positive, and a user score of 8.7 from 343 ratings.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/we-got-it-from-herethank-you-4-your-service/a-tribe-called-quest) The Guardian called it "a poignant comeback" recorded before [Phife Dawg](https://www.edgepedia.org/phife-dawg)'s death and finished in its wake.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/13/tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review) Pitchfork judged that it "reinvigorates the group's enviable discography without resting on the nostalgia of past accomplishment", and RapReviews concluded that it was a more fitting end for the group than *The Love Movement* had seemed in 1998.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) • [7](https://www.rapreviews.com/2016/11/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/) Year-end lists placed it highly across publications: Gorilla vs. Bear and Variety ranked it number one of 2016, with Paste, Stereogum, SPIN, MOJO, Billboard, and others in their top ten.[15](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/64923-a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/critic-lists/)
The album stands as the group's final statement: A Tribe Called Quest, including the late Phife Dawg, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024, with [Dave Chappelle](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-chappelle) assisting the induction of Q-Tip, Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Phife.[16](https://apnews.com/article/631f31bd3ef6d72bd58c532ed380c031)
## References
1. [A Tribe Called Quest Announces Final Album Due in November, Time](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/)
2. [We Got It From Here: The defiant, timely triumph of A Tribe Called Quest's final album, FACT Magazine](https://www.factmag.com/2016/11/15/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review/)
3. [A Tribe Called Quest Has The No.1 Album in America For the First Time in 20 Years, Time](https://time.com/4579104/a-tribe-called-quest-album-sales/)
4. [We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service-mw0002991830)
5. [In the Mix with A Tribe Called Quest Engineer David Kennedy, LargeUp](https://www.largeup.com/2017/01/09/interview-engineer-david-kennedy/amp/)
6. [We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/we-got-it-from-herethank-you-4-your-service/a-tribe-called-quest)
7. [A Tribe Called Quest :: We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, RapReviews](https://www.rapreviews.com/2016/11/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/)
8. [We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22607-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/)
9. [A Tribe Called Quest: Beats, Rhymes and Life, The Current](https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2018/02/19/tribe-called-quest-beats-rhymes-and-life)
10. [The Secret History of A Tribe Called Quest's Final Album, Okayplayer](https://www.okayplayer.com/the-secret-history-of-a-tribe-called-quests-final-album/778159)
11. [A Tribe Called Quest: We Got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/13/tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-review)
12. [A Tribe Called Quest's 'We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service' Review, ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/tribe-called-quests-service-review/story?id=43532854)
13. [Album Review: A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, CKUT 90.3 FM](https://ckut.ca/music/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/)
14. [A Tribe Called Quest's Got It From Here, The Record (Five Towns College), December 2016](https://www.ftc.edu/forms/Dec_2016_Record_web.pdf)
15. [Critic Lists for We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service, Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/64923-a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service/critic-lists/)
16. [Rock & Roll Hall of Fame turns up starpower to induct Cher, Foreigner, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy and more, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/631f31bd3ef6d72bd58c532ed380c031)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license