'Bonita Applebum', Revisited - Chris 'Preach' Smith

So, Valentine’s Day just passed us by. And of course, the 
topic of love was thrown about with all the requisite mixes
and playlists. Hip-hop was no different. Of course, some of
what passes for love and hip-hop you’ve probably gotten
tired of, splayed out on cable networks like those movies
that used to be on Cinemax After Dark back in the day.
That’s not to say it isn’t entertaining, but for some of us,
love and hip-hop was always and still is a more complex
union. And today marks the anniversary of one of those
tracks that is a prime example: ‘Bonita Applebum’, by the
legendary group A Tribe Called Quest.

Admit it - you play ‘Bonita Applebum’ now, you instantly
get transported back to the first time you heard it. And
whoever you were crushing on at the time. For me it
was the time when cats were still rocking shirts you saw
in Kwame’s ‘Ownlee Eue’ video which came out the year
before, and girls sported doorknocker earrings and silk
blouses to go with their winning smiles. The Native Tongue
Era was in full effect, and the song, for all of its sexual
innuendo still conveyed more depth. There’s a breathy
innocence even in the pursuit of Bonita, evidenced by
Q-Tip’s opening lines:

Do I love you?

Do I lust for you?

Am I a sinner cuz I do the two? 

These three lines hit you in the heart because you
immediately found yourself in that same position
Tip was in. Bonita Applebum got to be more than a
potential sexual conquest the moment Tip said those
words because he addressed all the aspects of his
attraction. Another important aspect of the track
that has to be addressed in this regard is the fact
that Tribe, when doing this initial album People’s
Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, were
themselves just out of high school. So the feel of
the song adds another layer of exploration from a
youthful angle of sex, love and attraction. It also
isn’t a guttural expression as some got used to in
hip-hop (remember the term ‘skeezahs?) and the
way the track ended kind of served as a jolt back to
peer-based reality with the chants of ‘sex, freaks’
at the end. A real house party feel. Even a woman’s
curves were detailed in smooth form, and an early
opposition to imposed beauty ideals by fashion
publications and commercials depicting swimsuit
models with svelte figures. Even the video had 
some great subliminal imagery detailing the simple
pleasures of such a courtship with the stick figures
chasing Bonita around. And who can forget all the
members of Tribe in that one scene with the ‘Jimmy’
helmets? There’s even the self-consciousness of
love being expressed in a rap song at the end of 
each verse, as if to speak to the new ground being
broken.

You also can’t discount the great influences found
on ‘Bonita Applebum’ musically. I don’t think you’d 
be far off if you could spot the correlations between
this track and Motown gems by Smokey Robinson.
The beat iteslf makes the track feel like it could’ve
served as a backdrop for a scene out of ‘Cooley High’.
Brazilian jazz also finds a home here in the sample
of ‘Mathar’ by The Dave Pike Set. ATCQ’s song has
proven to be a cultural staple in many ways, being
sampled by Biz Markie and most famously by The 
Fugees with ‘Killing Me Softly’. And in case you feel
the newer generation has no love for Bonita, Pro Era
referenced the song in a recent track, ‘Rosie At Rubber
Tracks.’ More proof that love and hip-hop in their 
truest forms and expressions speak to everyone
across the years. More so than one-hit wonders
and semi-scripted drama.