Krizz Kaliko witnessed A Tribe Called Quest firsthand when he toured with the group. But Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White influenced the Strange Music artist much earlier with the 1993 release Midnight Marauders. Kaliko says that he always thinks of driving down the streets of Kansas City in his Pontiac Grand Prix.
He points out “Award Tour” as one of the songs that stands out to him, mostly because of the beat. He compares the song to 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” which he believes has resonated with audiences for more than a decade because of its production.
“That beat is what you love about it because you can’t tell me a lot of lyrics to that song,” he says during a segment of Best Albums. “I can’t tell you, I can’t even really tell you the lyrics to ‘Award Tour’ I just remember how it made me feel. I remember playing that album day after day after day after day.”
Kaliko says that the first time he did a show with the legendary group, he was impressed by how real they were when he witnessed a fight between Q-Tip and the late Phife Dawg.
“This is probably too much info, but I remember seeing Phife and Tip, they got into it, like the first time we did the show with them,” he says, explaining that much like him and Tech N9ne, he could tell from their raw interaction that they had a real brotherhood.
“Of course you have this perception these dudes are just great,” he says. “They’re MCs, oh my God, they’re probably best friends, and they probably are. That’s why they can argue. Me and Tech get into it like that, we have, but we’re brothers and brothers fight. So I thought it was great to, I played their music for so many years and then to see them really living real life right there.”
Kaliko also reflects on the iconic Midnight Marauders cover. He says that his fellow Strange Music friends, Mayday! had a similar design for the cover of the collaborative project with Murs, MursDay. He says that paying homage to greats gives credibility to those offering the tribute.
“Maybe I shouldn’t be saying that so they don’t get sued, but it’s not the same, though,” he says. “You can tell it was inspired by them. That was dope, though and to be able to give it up to other artists, man, when you’re dope and you know you dope, you can give it up to other people. You can give it up to other artists. I feel the same way. I feel like I can give it up to other dope artists because I know what I can do, the proof’s always in the pudding.”