Group
Native Tongues
’80s/’90s hip hop collective
- From
- New York, United States
- Since
- present
- Releases
- 0
- hip hop
About
The Native Tongues was a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal members were the Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, and Chi-Ali. The collective was also closely tied to the Universal Zulu Nation.
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The Native Tongues movement inspired later alternative hip-hop artists such as Kanye West, Outkast, the Roots, Lupe Fiasco, Little Brother, Black Eyed Peas, Jurassic 5, Dead Prez, Camp Lo, Jean Grae, Nappy Roots, Digable Planets, Common, Black Star, J Dilla, Lauryn Hill, MF Doom and Pharrell Williams. Rolling Stone cites the track "Doin' Our Own Dang" as "the definitive Native Tongues posse cut".
Members
Links
Reference
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- 01c43958-e345-4aff-a6e2-b025423ac326
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 6 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.