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It’s been 18 years since A Tribe Called Quest put out an album, and yet somehow, their new record Thank You For Your Service…We’ve Got It From Here seems right on time. The album represents the best of Tribe, including late member Phife Dawg, and was inspired by despair.

Q-Tip, joined by Jarobi White, Consequence and Busta Rhymes, sat down with veteran journalist Elliott Wilson at Webster Hall in NYC tonight to share it’s origins, as well as muse on the fate of Tribe, the loss of Phife and more.

On Reconciling With Phife: “We’ve known each other longer than anybody. We’ve had our ish. The music is great but it doesn’t come close to the love we have for each other.” 

On Ending the Group Nearly Two Decades Ago: “I felt like the industry was starting to move. Right after [Notorious B.I.G. died, it was real shift.”

On the Decision to Record Again, After An Appearance on Jimmy Fallon: “The Paris bombings happened that night, and Jarobi was just like ‘let’s make an album.’ By the time we got all the business straight, it ballooned from an EP to an album.”

On Busta Rhymes: “Busta is the most versatile out if all of us. I’m talkin bout [Eminem], me, [Jay Z].”

Busta Rhymes, on His Relationship With A Tribe Called Quest: “Tribe helped me get through a lot of shit. When I felt like I wasn’t getting that from my group, I always got it from them.”

On the Election: “Trump was able to galvanize his message clearly. Hillary was all over the place. We elected somebody who never held public office ever before. It’s like a national depression.”

On Politics and Hip-Hop: “Rappers should be more conscious and aware of what’s going on in this world.”

Q-Tip Talks Phife, Trump And More With Elliott Wilson  was originally published on globalgrind.com