Episode 25: Denaun “Mr.” Porter on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Low End Theory” (1991)

Episode notes

The album: A Tribe Called Quest: Low End Theory (1991)

Producer/MC Denaun Porter aka Mr. Porter has been in the hip-hop scene for over two decades. He has some impressive credits under his belt, producing songs that combined have sold almost 100 million records. He has worked with some of the industries top-talent including Eminem, 50 Cent, SnoopDog, Shakira, Bad Meets Evil, and many more. He is also one of the founding members of the chart-topping Detroit hip-hop group D12. It was none other than ATCQ’s “Bonita Applebaum” that inspired Mr. Porter to get into hip-hop and not surprisingly, when we invited him to the show, he wanted to talk about one of the all-time great hip-hop albums: ATCQ’s sophomore effort, Low End Theory. 

During our convo, we discussed the production techniques and sample choices, how good the album’s sequencing was, and why Q-Tip and the late Phife Dawg went together like peanut butter and jelly. We also got into the fight-provoking question of: Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders?

More on A Tribe Called Quest and Low End Theory

• Vibe‘s “20 Facts about Low End Theory”
• Angus Batey looks back on the album for its 25th anniversary for The Quietus.
• The Source‘s original 5 mic review from 1991.

More on Denaun Porter

• Adam Graham’s profile of Denaun in Detroit News.
• “Producer’s Corner” profile for HipHopDX
• Mr. Porter on his “classic records” for Complex.
• Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Low End Theory unless indicated otherwise):

• “Scenario”
• “Denaun Porter: Porter Shops Glasper “jUsT 4 dA hAwAiI eVeNiNg
• “D12: Devil’s Night: “Purple Hills”
• “Excursions”
• “Cannonball Adderley: The Black Messiah “The Steam Drill”
• “Jackie Jackson: Jackie Jackson “Is it Him or Me”
• “Queen Latifah: Nature of a Sister “Latifah’s Had It Up to Here”
• “MC Lyte: Act Like You Know “Act Like You Know”
• “Skypager”
• “Check The Rhime”
• “The Infamous Date Rape”
• “What?”
• “Jazz (We’ve Got This)”
• ““Buggin Out”
• “Migos: Culture II “Motorsport Feat. Cardi B and Nicki Minaj”
  “Butter”
• “Weather Report: Mr. Gone “Young and Fine”
• “A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders “Lyrics to Go”
• “Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Buhaina“A Chant for Bu”
• “Everything is Fair”

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