B-side "Butter" Format 12" single Genre Alternative hip hop | Released March 24, 1992 Recorded 1991 Length 4:10 | |
"Scenario" is the third single from A Tribe Called Quest's second album The Low End Theory. The song features members of Leaders of the New School. Matt Cibula of PopMatters called the track hip hop's greatest posse cut. The song is commonly considered a breakout moment for LONS member Busta Rhymes who was 19 when this song was released.
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The music video, directed by Jim Swaffield, plays on an interactive desktop, and features cameo appearances by Spike Lee, De La Soul, Brand Nubian, Fab 5 Freddy and Redman.
Time included the song on its list of the All-TIME 100 Songs.
A remixed version of "Scenario" appeared on the B-side of the 12" single and cassette single as well as the limited edition release of the group's later album, The Love Movement (1998). The remix also features Leaders of the New School and newcomer Kid Hood, who was murdered three days after recording his verse. Blender magazine ranked the remix at number 216 in its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
Trivia
The Notorious B.I.G. sampled the final line of Kid Hood's verse, "I'm a bad bad man" in his song, Gimme the Loot.
Afrika Bambaataa sampled Busta Rhymes' line, "Heel up, wheel up, bring it back, come rewind," for his 1993 single "Zulu War Chant"
Barenaked Ladies reworked Busta Rhymes line "Chickity-choco, the chocolate chicken" into "Chickity China the Chinese chicken" for their 1998 hit "One Week".
Busta Rhymes recycled his line "Uh Uh Uh / All over the track, man / As I come back" in the chorus for his 2001 single As I Come Back.
West Coast hip hop group Black Hippy covered the song in 2009, with their own original lyrics.
Nicki Minaj quotes Busta Rhymes' famous line, "Rawr, rawr, like a dungeon dragon", in her 2010 song "Roman's Revenge". Busta Rhymes appeared on the song's remix, quoting additional lines from his "Scenario" verse and referring to himself as "the original dungeon dragon".
Beastie Boys member Mike D similarly quotes Busta Rhymes' verse in the song "The Brouhaha" on their 2004 album To the 5 Boroughs.
Parts of the song are sampled and referenced lyrically in the song "Who's That? Brooown!" by rap group Das Racist. Particularly LONS member Charlie Brown's lines.
The song was featured in the soundtrack of the video game True Crime: New York City and NBA 2K15. The song was also featured in the 2015 film Dope.
The song was performed in the 2015 film Pitch Perfect 2 by the cast.