What was your favorite song in high school? Why did it resonate?

"Check the Rhime" is a song that definitely lasted the entirety of high school (and even to present day!) Hip Hop was the first music genre I fell in love with as a kid in the 80s and A Tribe Called Quest is near the top of my all-time favorite artists list.

The song (and ATCQ in general) resonated with me through the melding of jazz and hip hop. The boom bap drums with jazz bass and horn loops are like peanut butter and chocolate for me. It just sounds so good to my ears.

Lyrically, ATCQ contrasted with gangsta rap's rise to popularity through positive and socially conscious lyrics. As someone who was also getting exposed to punk and hardcore at the time, the similarity in message was hard to overlook and made it easy to love both genres.