FOR THOSE OF US WHO RESIDE IN THE hip-hop nation, A Tribe Called Quest is the musical equivalent of that college game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Tribe is the center of the hip-hop universe; all the other rappers are merely spokes. Take Busta Rhymes. Most of us first heard his wild-style rhymes when he did a guest spot on Tribe's song ""Scenario.'' Long before other rappers, the group told Afrocentric stories and dabbled in jazz. Tribe member Q-Tip has performed on such emblematic '90s songs as Dee-Lite's club anthem ""Groove Is in the Heart'' and Janet Jackson's ""Got Till It's Gone.'' (Who else but Tip could have a club full of rap fans singing ""Joni Mitchell never lies''?)
Earlier this month, Tribe announced they're breaking up, which makes their just-released fifth album, ""The Love Movement,'' especially bittersweet. Ten years ago we became hooked on the group's eclectic beats and lyrical wordplay. Had we ever heard puppy love so sweetly described as in ""Bonita Applebum,'' or anything as wacky as the mariachi-laced ""I Left My Wallet in El Segundo''? When the airwaves were flooded with gangsta rap, Tribe took an entirely different route. On their classic album ""The Low End Theory,'' they created the first and most successful fusion of jazz and rap, hiring legendary bassist Ron Carter to provide the beats over which they flowed. As they rapped on ""Excursions,'' ""Back in the days when I was a teenager/ Before I had status and before I had a pager/You could find the Abstract listening to hip-hop/ My dad used to say it reminded him of be-bop/I said "Daddy don't you know? Things go in cycles'.''
Tribe has disbanded because Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed and Phife are pursuing solo projects--and because positive rap doesn't pay. Their last album, ""Beats, Rhymes and Life,'' was panned by critics and did poorly (it sold only 724,000 copies, according to Soundscan). So Q-Tip will do a solo album. The quietly brilliant deejay Ali will no doubt continue to find work as a producer. And Phife wants to pursue a career as a sports agent or broadcaster. But they're leaving behind a great goodbye gift with ""The Love Movement.'' The plaintive ""Find a Way'' will appeal to all the rap romantics; hard-core fans will grin at the naughtiness of songs like ""The Booty.'' Best of all, in addition to 15 new songs, this new CD has remixes of six classic tracks including ""Scenario'' and ""Oh My God.'' On the first song of their first album, Tribe promised to test the boundaries of rap, to musically ""push it along.'' Ten years and five albums later, they're still keeping that promise. Q-Tip was right: Joni Mitchell never lied. You don't know what you've got till it's gone.