After months of rumors and speculation, denial and excitement, it finally looks like it’s going to happen.

The much loved A Tribe Called Quest is reportedly getting back together to record a new LP and tour with all original members. Q-Tip, Phife Dog, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi have finally worked out their differences in order to do the thing that hip hop fans around the world never thought would happen. And I swear: it’s gonna be tight.

In 1998, following mixed reviews of their CD The Love Movement, Tribe parted ways and pursued solo careers to the general chagrin of fans ranging from the hardest-core backpackers to lightly interested suburbanites.

And while both Phife and Tip enjoyed some marginal success as solo artists, neither was able to recapture the exultant brilliance of the Native Tongues years of what many people refer to as hip hop’s golden age. In a very recent interview with www.thaformula.com Phife Diggy was nice enough to break the news to anyone interested and goes into detail about the state of hip hop, Tribe’s chances at reclaiming past glory, and how great Busta Rhymes really is.

But if you were into Tribe at all, that feeling of shortness of breath and euphoria upon hearing this news was probably immediately followed by a faint wave of anxiety. Can they do it?

This is the question many decided was best left unanswered after years of no hope of any new A Tribe Called Quest releases in the future. But the face of such a fickle hip hop mainstream was bound to change in the five years since Tribe’s exit and the truth is: “it ain’t nuthin’ nice.”

In the shadow of such monumental expectations, an creative effort short of heroic will probably be met with strong criticism from all, but the deepest Tribe fan, but in a time when people like J. Lo are still selling records, let’s give them a chance.