The Anthology is A Tribe Called Quest's 1999 greatest hits compilation spanning their career up to that point. The compilation contains songs from all of their currently existing full-length catalogue, including People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders, Beats, Rhymes and Life and The Love Movement, as well as select soundtrack releases. It also contains Q-Tip's "Vivrant Thing", which was featured on the first music compilation for Violator Management through Violator Records/Def Jam Recordings. The song would also later be featured on Q-Tip's solo effort, 1999's Amplified. "Vivrant Thing" is also substituted with "Mr. Incognito" for the Japan release. The album cover features Erykah Badu with fluorescent stripes of green and orange reminiscent of the traditional colors of the Kente tribe of the north Congo.
In the UK, a limited edition album was released with a bonus remix CD. The album was accompanied by The Video Anthology, a DVD release which contained most of the group's videos.