"Electric Relaxation" is a song by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released in February 1994 by Jive Records as the second single from their third album, '' Midnight Marauders'' (1993). It contains a sample of the song " Mystic Brew" by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

organist

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and peaked at number 65 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The accompanying music video was directed by Josh Taft. The beat of the song was ranked as the third greatest hip-hop beat of all time by Rock the Bells in 2024. The track was featured as the opening theme song for The WB's black sitcom ''

The Wayans Bros. ''The Wayans Bros.'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 20, 1999. The series starred real life brothers Shawn Wayans, Shawn and Marlon Wayans, comedian John Witherspoon (actor), John Withe ...

'' for the first two seasons.

Production

In a conversation with '' XXL'', Phife Dawg revealed that the beat for "Electric Relaxation" was created in his grandmother's basement by Q-Tip: The song features multiple samples, including " Mystic Brew" by

and "Outside Love" by Brethren.

Critical reception

Andy Beevers from '' Music Week'' gave the song three out of five, saying, "These days ATCQ are a bit too left field to appeal to the masses, but they still have pienty of admirers." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "The tribe chills out on a soft jazzy beat. Even their raps are soothing and so slow that you can hear it word for word."

Music video

The music video for "Electric Relaxation" was directed by American director Josh Taft and produced by Edward Rehfeldt. Taft also directed the video for the group's singles " Award Tour" and " Oh My God" from the same album.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

1994 singles 1993 songs A Tribe Called Quest songs Songs written by Q-Tip (musician) Jive Records singles Song recordings produced by Q-Tip (musician) Songs written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad Songs written by Phife Dawg Black-and-white music videos Music videos directed by Josh Taft Jazz rap songs {{1990s-hiphop-song-stub