Bonita Applebum


"Bonita Applebum" is the second single from A Tribe Called Quest's debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. The song contains samples of "Daylight" by RAMP, "Memory Band" by Rotary Connection, and "Fool Yourself" by Little Feat.

Background

The original version of "Bonita Applebum", made in 1985, was one of A Tribe Called Quest's first demos. A few years later, the song was remade and included on the People's Instinctive Travels album. Initially, Q-Tip used a conventional rap delivery for the song, but after reading a Miles Davis interview about "space", he decided to adopt the technique by changing the beat and using a conversational delivery.

Music video

The video directed by Charles Stone III opens with Q-Tip doing the intro by asking Bonita questions, followed by little stick figure cartoon characters who see Bonita and chase after her. The group is seen walking and dancing. Q-Tip starts the first verse at a party. Then the group stops because a kid is seen catching a baseball and they were going to be hit. They stop again because they see a man playing a piano. Soon the kid who was playing baseball is seen dancing, and Q-Tip is behind a violet curtain trying to impress Bonita. The group is wearing helmets while cassette tapes are dropped on them, and the video ends with the group at the party with other people dancing.

Remixes

A popular "Why remix" was made, which heavily sampled the song "Why" by Carly Simon. Another remix was done in 1993, with a new beat and new lyrics. There is also a third remix titled "Bonita Applebum " that samples The Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets" and also has new lyrics. It was briefly featured in the film Poetic Justice, which coincidentally stars Q-Tip.
In 2015, Pharrell Williams Remixed the song for the 25th anniversary reissue of their debut album.

Samples