"Can I Kick It?" appears on the band's 1999 compilation album, The Anthology, with the outro of "Bonita Applebum" added to the beginning of the song. In 2012, NME listed the song at number 90 in their ranking of the "100 Best Songs of the 1990s".[4]
Critical reception
Larry Flick from Billboard stated that "inspired use of samples from Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" nicely complements tribe's relaxed and confident rhyming."[5] A reviewer from Music & Media noted that "the New York rap crew proves their music can be 'double -streetwise'" and described the song as "two-dimensional rap".[6]NME called it a "laidback chant-a-long".[4] Gary Crossing from Record Mirror wrote, "You can't go far wrong with this groovy little shanty. Take a dash of Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side', a splash of Ian Dury's 'What A Waste', a sprinkling of rap and a pinch of Seventies funk to create this masterpiece of contemporary popular music."[7] Caroline Sullivan from Smash Hits said that "they've had the sense to nick the bassline from the elderly rock hit "Walk on the Wild Side", and it gives their effort a bit of slinky class."[8]
Music video
The music video for "Can I Kick It?" was directed by American music video director and video editor Jim Swaffield. It features A Tribe Called Quest and various others, including members of De La Soul, literally kicking the word "it" while rapping on a film set, a park (located under the Williamsburg Bridge in New York’s Lower East Side), and a construction site. On the film set, they are seen playing with the tittle of the "i" in "it". In the park, they are walking around and are flipping on top of the "it". The video also features the participants throwing drumsticks around and landing them on drums. A "flying record player" is featured, to play the Lou Reed sample. Additionally, there is a slightly different beat in the video, but the same lyrics from the album are used.
Impact and legacy
In 2012, NME listed "Can I Kick It?" at number 90 in their ranking of the "100 Best Songs of the 1990s".[4]
In 2021, Rolling Stone included it in their list of "500 Best Songs of All Time".[9]
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Popular culture
In the second verse, Phife Dawg refers to former New York City mayor David Dinkins, the city's first African-American mayor: "Mr. Dinkins, would you please be my mayor?" The song was recorded before Dinkins' was elected to office.[15]
