The Ummah was a
music production collective, composed of members
Q-Tip and
Ali Shaheed Muhammad of
A Tribe Called Quest, and the late
Jay Dee (now known as
J Dilla) of the
Detroit-based group
Slum Village. Occasional members included
Raphael Saadiq, and
D'Angelo. In addition to producing nearly the entirety of
A Tribe Called Quest's fourth and fifth albums, the Ummah provided backing tracks and remixes for a notable array of
hip hop and
contemporary R&B artists, including
Busta Rhymes,
Whitney Houston,
Keith Murray, the
Brand New Heavies,
Janet Jackson, and
Jon B. The group was so named because two of its members (Tip and Ali) are devout
Muslims, J Dilla later accepted Islam before his death. The word "
ummah" is
Arabic for "community", "nation", or "brotherhood". Generally, the term refers to the global Muslim population.