is a song by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released in October 1990 by Jive Records as the third single from their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990).
contains samples of "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed,[3] "What a Waste" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, "Spinning Wheel" by Dr. Lonnie Smith, "Dance of the Knights" by Sergei Prokofiev and "Sunshower" by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band.
Phife Dawg has stated that, because of the use of the "Walk on the Wild Side" sample, the group did not receive any money from the single, with Lou Reed instead claiming the profits.
[3] The music video for the song was directed by Jim Swaffield and filmed in New York City, featuring among others De La Soul.
[4] Larry Flick from Billboard felt that "inspired use of samples from Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side' nicely complements Tribe's relaxed and confident rhyming.
[7] Simon Williams from NME commented, "If half the task of chaps like these is to unearth a few wholesome samples from the historical vaults then A Tribe Called Quest score a Full House on the Bingometer.
Vanilla Ice got halfway there and then blew it all by bein' a whiteboy wanker, but the Tribe heartily credit L Reed for stretching his "Walk on the Wild Side" across a loping backbeat and then adding snatches of the Blockheads' "What a Waste" with some snoozy, cerebral rapping.
"[8] Gary Crossing from Record Mirror stated, "You can't go far wrong with this groovy little shanty."
[11] It features A Tribe Called Quest and various others, including members of De La Soul, literally kicking the word "it" while rapping on a film set, a park (located under the Williamsburg Bridge in New York’s Lower East Side), and a construction site.
number 50 in their list of "The 100 Best Pop Songs Never to Hit the Hot 100", stating that "the Lou Reed-sampling single helped establish the playful, inventive style of one of the greatest rap groups of the ’90s — and also gave the genre one of its all-time call-and-response hooks.