Electric Relaxation

About this song

Electric Relaxation is the second single from A Tribe Called Quest's album Midnight Marauders and is built on a sample of Ronnie Foster's Mystic Brew. Phife recalled in a 2013 XXL interview that Q-Tip played him the beat, and the two wrote their own verses and traded lines when recording. The track peaked at number two on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles chart and served as the theme song for the first two seasons of The Wayans Bros. It has appeared on many lists of the greatest hip-hop songs and has been sampled or referenced by artists including Kanye West and BadBadNotGood.

What it's about

The song has a smooth, back-and-forth style similar to Check the Rhime and covers subject matter close to Bonita Applebum. Tip delivers street poetry while Phife trades punchlines with him.

Fun facts

• Samples “Mystic Brew by Ronnie Foster” and “Dreams by Ramsey Lewis”.
• Sampled in 28 other songs, like “Forbidden Fruit by J. Cole (Ft. Kendrick Lamar)”.
• Covered 2 times, including “Electric Relaxation by BADBADNOTGOOD”.
• Written by Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.
• Produced by A Tribe Called Quest.