"Check the Rhime" is the first single from

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

The Low End Theory ''The Low End Theory'' is the second studio album by American hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on September 24, 1991, by Jive Records. Recording sessions for the album were held mostly at Battery Studios in New York City, from 1990 to ...

''. The song was written by group members

Phife Dawg Malik Izaak Taylor (November 20, 1970March 22, 2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg (or simply Phife), was an American rapper and a member of the group A Tribe Called Quest with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (and for a short time Jarobi W ...

, Q-Tip, and

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, and rapper, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the group released five studio albums ...

. It was recorded at the legendary

Greene St. Recording Greene St. Recording was a New York City recording studio, located at 112 Greene Street in SoHo, Manhattan, until its closure in 2001. It was one of the early headquarters of hip hop music during the 1980s and 1990s. History Greene St. began in ...

studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The song peaked at number 59 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

on November 16, 1991. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' listed "Check the Rhime" as one of the group's 20 essential songs, noting that Phife Dawg "quickly proves himself Q-Tip's lyrical equal."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, directed by

Jim Swaffield Jim Swaffield is an American music video director and video editor. He has worked with A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince and Coolio. He is also known for working with R. Kelly on ''Trapped in the Closet ''Trapped in the ...

, starts out in front of houses and moves to a dry cleaning business in St. Albans, Queens,

, where the group performs on the roof in front of a large crowd. The dry cleaners shop featured in the video is still at the corner of 192nd St. & Linden Blvd. in St. Albans. In 2016, a mural was commissioned on the wall of the business after the death of the group's founding member, Phife Dawg.

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Check the Rhime 1991 singles A Tribe Called Quest songs 1991 songs Jive Records singles Song recordings produced by Q-Tip (musician) Songs written by Q-Tip (musician) Songs written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad Songs written by Richard Rudolph Songs written by Leon Ware Songs written by Phife Dawg