Grammys 2017: A Tribe Called Quest perform powerful ‘We the People’ protesting President Trump

When you first heard that A Tribe Called Quest was going to be performing on the Grammys this year, you had to imagine that they were going to deliver one of the night’s biggest and most-powerful political performances. They did that tonight with a set that included “We the People,” a powerful song about their view of America.

Specifically, “Agent Orange” was a name that they used to reference President Donald Trump before getting into the “We the People” performance that included chants of “resist” at the end while Muslim women took the stage in the closing minutes. They didn’t hold anything back in making their message clear, which is probably why there’s going to be mixed reactions to this after the fact. Then again, we imagine that they expected this and were prepared for it tonight.

One of the things that especially love about A Tribe Called Quest’s performances is their continued emphasize on honoring the late Phife Dawg, one of the reasons why the legendary group existed in the first place. The group was also joined tonight by some special guests from hip-hop lore including Anderson .Paak and Busta Rhymes, which certainly made this whole performance even more old-school. They kept to the style and the sound they know so well, while updating their music to reflect more of a modern audience and sensibility.

As for whether or not Trump will respond to it tomorrow, we doubt it — there was a time when he did to almost everything, but it feels like now there are so many different protests happening that he doesn’t even have time for them all (yes, even if he does also have time to complain about Ivanka Trump being treated “badly,” in his words, by Nordstrom). They got their message across, even if they don’t get too much of a response from the people at the top of our country.

What do you think about the performance from the group tonight, and do you think that the Grammys needed this sort of a statement this year? Be sure to share your thoughts below, and head over here to get some more news when it comes to the show. (Photo: Grammys.)