Q-Tip gets busy after Rock the Bells 2008
It has been a long time that Q-Tip (a.k.a., the Abstract) has been promising his fans a “proper” sophomore release. An extraordinarily long time. In fact, it has been nine years since Q-Tip dropped his solo debut Amplified. Well, fear not kids because the Abstract is prepping to bring you The Renaissance in a mere two-and-a-half months time. According to Billboard, the release date is set for October 14, but we’ll have to wait to see if the album actually hits the shelves as planned. For those of you that have not been following the development of this project, this is not the first published drop date. Regardless, this time it seems like everything is moving along as planned and it just might be the time to get excited.
Before we get into some of the details on the new album, let’s take a quick look back at Q-Tip’s debut.
Amplified
Amplified remains his only full-length release, featuring the big singles like “Vivrant Thing” and “Breathe and Stop.” I loved this album, especially the bonus track “Do It, See It, Be It.” Not all of the critics agreed on the album, meeting it with mixed reviews. Personally, I’ve never bought music based on others’ tastes. If you are a regular reader here at Consequence of Sound, I’m assuming you don’t either. Sure, it is great to read about artists online and I enjoy reviews, but I like to make my own judgments and, frankly, I don’t mind the Abstract’s departure on Amplified. Sure, it doesn’t sound like A Tribe Called Quest. In fact, it is far from the chilled-out vibe that we all love. Then again, it is not an ATCQ album. Instead, with Amplified, Q-Tip gave us a bouncier album, full of harder beats and basslines, ultimately leading to a much poppier record than the majority of Tribe’s work.
Of course, the sound progression was a bit of a surprise considering the fact that the late J Dilla, who had produced many of Tribe’s albums, laid down the beats form the majority (11/13) of Tip’s solo joints. Still, the two of them built a reputation for experimenting with sounds over the years. You might remember that both were a part of the Ummah family, a production team officially formed about midway through Tribe’s career.
Unreleased
You can’t place all of the blame on Q-Tip for the lack of music. It is not as if he hasn’t tried. I’m still waiting for him to release Kamaal the Abstract (from 2001) for the first time in the States. This was an unreleased joint that L.A. Reid and Arista Records decided was not worth the effort and stuck it on the shelves to collect dust and rot. The album is notable because of its experimental sounds. Q-Tip spit his traditional flows, but also sang throughout the album. All of this is over avant-garde funk and jazz music, an interesting choice for beats (some might even say they were ahead of the times).
Clive Davis left Arista in 2000 to form J Records and asked Q-Tip to come along. Tip chose to stay with L.A. Reid and finish his album. Tip says, “[Reid] loved it, sent it out, it got great reviews. But he got cold feet because he didn’t hear a single. So I asked for a release.”
Reportedly, Arista went as far as to release copies of the album to the media before deciding that it was not commercial enough to market and pulling it back. From there, the album sat on the shelf and never saw a proper release.
Q-Tip signed with DreamWorks, which Geffen Records (he was shifted to Interscope) soon gobbled during the “consolidation years.” Meanwhile, he was training in piano and learning operatic bel canto technique with a vocal trainer, while continuing to perfect his skills on the turntable, working as a DJ in NYC. In fact, Q-Tip still holds down a residential spot, alongside Rich Medina at Santos Party House on Friday nights.
It was only a couple of years later (2004) that he signed his next deal with Universal Motown. It was on this label that he would finish his third solo record (second unreleased), Open (2005). I’ve yet to hear this unreleased album, but just check out what Remix had to say about it back in 2004:
Open brings Q-Tip full circle, pushing the sonic edge just as Tribe-lovers knew he always would. Open matches Q-Tip’s jazz jones with crunching neo-metal guitars, rhythmically jagged arrangements and live drumming that bridges the rock/hip-hop divide like a Zeppelin beat funkdafied by drummer extraordinaire Bernard Purdie. Open crosses avant jazz with funk, funk with rock and rock with hip-hop, all drenched in jazzy jam-band aesthetics. It’s outside R&B for listeners in need of musical meat.
Then there is Live at the Renaissance (2005), an album on Universal/Motown that apparently was released internationally, though I have not heard much about it. I assume it is more or less a mixtape of the unreleased tracks that someone overseas is marketing as a legitimate record. If anyone knows anything about this album, please share the information.
I believe that those are all of his legitimate unreleased efforts. There are a couple of mixtapes that folks have posted online over the years. The most popular is probably Abstract Innovations (2008), a mixtape with at least some of the songs expected to be on The Renaissance.
Strangely enough, I found some of Tip’s lost works listed on Amazon: Kamaal the Abstract, Live at the Renaissance & Abstract Innovations.
When it was all said and done, Q-Tip changed labels five times in six years!
Doesn’t that just piss you off? A label signs a contract with an artist, the artist finishes his work, the fans patiently wait to hear the product, and someone in an office decides that the American public would rather hear something else. While we’re on the topic, check out my recent interview with the New York band Sam Champion to get some musicians’ opinions on these types of industry shenanigans.
In the Meantime…
It’s not like we have not had any new Q-Tip. In fact, he’s been featured as a guest collaborator on many albums and he’s expanded far past the boundaries of rap. Tip has also continued to build a reputation as a solid producer, working with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey to Mobb Deep and Nas. While the fans will always know Q-Tip as an MC, he probably spent more of the past decade working behind the scenes and boards. As discussed earlier, he was producing some of his own records back with Tribe as part of Ummah. In addition, he dabbled in acting and I bet we’ll be seeing more of him on the big screen in the future.
I would love to list all of Q-Tip’s collaborative works over the past decade, but that just seems pointless with Wikipedia and all. Instead, I’ll just list some of the highlights. However, don’t miss the playlist below featuring some of his best hard-to-find solo work, including some of the “lost” songs and guest appearances.
Tip’s most famous appearance might be on the Chemical Brothers’ “Galvanize,” off Push. It is somewhat appropriate that this song got so much play, considering the “dancey” direction Q-Tip took with Amplified. He actually won a Grammy for this song and it reached #3 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music Sales. Over two years after its initial release, it still sits at #23. The Chemical Brothers and Q-Tip can thank Budweiser for that…
While I dig “Galvanize,” I think my favorite “new collab” song featuring the Abstract is off the most recent DJ Shadow album, The Outsider. The track “Enuff,” which also features Lateef the Truth Speaker, is a funky hip hop jam reminiscent of Handsome Boy Modeling School. While The Outsider is certainly no Endtroducing (or Private Press for that matter), it does contain a grip of extremely tight tracks and I don’t think any shine more than “Enuff.”
Other highlights include Jay-Z’s huge hit “Girls, Girls, Girls” off The Blueprint, “The Frog” (also featuring Will.I.Am of B.E.P.) off Sergio Mendes’ hybrid experimental Timeless, the smooth “Hold Tight” off J Dilla’s group Slum Village’s Fantastic, Vol. 2 (a great album), “Showdown” off Black Moon’s War Zone, “Keep It Moving” of Hi-Tek’s Hi-Teknology 2, and “The Outsiders” of R.E.M.’s Around the Sun.
He was supposed to be making an appearance on the Rza produced song “Kids with Words” off Wu-Tang Clan’s The 8 Diagrams, but for some reason, the track didn’t make the final cut.
Sound
Sylvia Rhone, Universal Motown’s president, recently told the LA Times about how Q-Tip’s work shifted from the artsy Open to the poppier sounds on The Renaissance. “Over the four years, trust me, he’s been working on this. It’s been a constant work in progress. The tone has changed so much. But I think we have something that’s going to go down in the record books.”
Expect to hear a nice blend of hip hop, jazz and rock. Q-Tip compiled a nice eclectic sounding band for The Renaissance, telling Billboard all the way back in January 2007, “I wanted a hip hop sonic feel, something pure to the sound of hip hop with real drums, real emotion and people taking solos. In that sense this record feels like we’re moving in a new direction – something hip hop should do.”
Content
Unlike the unreleased joints that did not feature many guests, The Renaissance is full of collaborations and a few of them are quite surprising, none more so than the one featured on the very first track of the album. This song, “Shaka,” boasts a special appearance by Barack Obama. The presidential candidate’s voice reverberates over a beat, reciting his now famous theme of hope and change. Hmmm…I wonder if Open originally featured a collaboration with John Kerry (I’m kidding of course.) More on Obama’s appearance in a minute.
Q-tip told the New York Post’s Page Six in March, “I’ve got Norah Jones on there, but Barack, is the big one. You’ll see what happens, I can’t reveal too much.” The Post also revealed that Spike Lee would be appearing “in a number with a political twist.”
Whatever that means.
This will actually be Jones’ first ever hip hop collaboration. She is featured on the song “Life Is Better,” a tribute to hip hop legends. Also, expect Raphael Saadiq’s track to be a standout. It is called “We Fight, We Love” and it is a narration on a woman in a terrible relationship, while her man fights in Iraq. You should remember Saadiq from his time with Tony! Toni! Tone!, or as I do, as part of the soul supergroup (alongside D’Angelo, Ali Shaheed Muhammad of ATCQ and Dawn Robinson of En Vogue) and his stellar solo album Instant Vintage.
There is a 1960s funk song called “Won’t Trade,” a track featuring Amanda Diva called “ManWomanBoogie,” and “Believe” with D’Angelo. Other guests expected to appear on the album include Common and Andre 3000 (of Outkast).
Q-Tip has featured various songs on his Myspace page and his website. Currently, you can stream “Work it Out” and “For the Nasty” featuring Busta Rhymes on the website. The only track on Myspace is “Gettin’ Up,” which you can download below (courtesy of Spine Magazine.)
Getting back to Barack Obama, I guess for him, this might be a little you scratch my back, I scratch yours. Back on “Super Tuesday” (February 5), Tip put out a press release endorsing Obama stating the he feels that “we can benefit greatly from a leader that offers sound judgment and experience rooted in the lives of real people…. The only way we can have this renaissance is with the Senator from Illinois as President of the United States. We are on the brink of moving past our stigmas and preconceived thoughts to make a substantive decision for change… The change is Barack Obama.” Here is some more from the release:
Given this disturbing climate at home and abroad, it is imperative that we break out of old habits and politics as usual. It is time we endorse real change. This is why I endorse Senator Barack Obama for President. I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a part of a great American culture with the Hip Hop movement. The music that I created was inspired by fresh, new ideas in expression. I have always strived to let that sentiment live in my music. Hip Hop continues to be a mighty voice for the disenfranchised, the disillusioned and poor. Senator Obama offers the best opportunities for all of us who fit these descriptions. A large amount of us still remain unregistered to vote, and Barack Obama not only represents unification of our communities by his presidential platform but the ignition of the light that remains untouched by any political figure.
Agenda
Wait, what? Q-Tip has an agenda? Well, not exactly. But the Abstract is a forefather of the hip hop community and a member of, arguably, the best hip hop group ever to exist. Tip is not happy with the current state of the scene. Seriously, who is? Remember when hip hop was always discussed not as a genre of music, but as a culture? When was the last time you heard that?
If you didn’t catch the April edition of Interview where Leonardo DiCaprio interviewed Q-Tip (seriously), here is a brief summary courtesy of hiphopdx.com:
The interview features Q-Tip’s speaking about the future of the record industry, as well as revealing that Jive Records signed the quartet in the late ’80s for $350,000. In the piece, Q-Tip compares the present state of Hip Hop to the evolution of Disco in the ’70s. “Hip Hop is definitely not as good as it once was,” he continues, “There was a time when Disco was the shit and Steve Rubell had Studio 54. But the minute you heard ‘Disco Duck’ by Rick Dees, that was the telltale sign that Disco was over. I think that if Hip Hop continues on the path that it seems like it’s going down, then it looks like it’s not going to hold up.”
The site caught up with the Abstract at Rock the Bells and questioned him about these statements. Specifically, the site asked whether Q-Tip thought that a festival like RTB could turn hip hop around before it drowns into obscurity (a la disco). This is selected portions of Tip’s response:
I think it’s important. It’s not that Disco is a horrible thing, it just has a negative connotation. It became popular, like Hip Hop, Pop-ular. Pop. Pop. Pop. Things like [Rock The Bells] are cool, but you don’t want to section things off like, “This is the real Hip Hop.” If you want to [accept] the music, it’s for everybody, no matter the background or section. So I feel like, yeah, this is important because it shows that we can survive, not only to ourselves, but to people in positions of power …. Because the thing about music is, record sales have gone down – Tower Records closes and Virgin closes, but you see more Sam Ashes and Guitar Centers. People are quick to buy equipment – computers, guitars, deejay equipment. So the appetite is there. A tour like this should just show that to people in authoritative position’s minds. It’s every genre, not just Hip Hop, but Rock, Jazz, R&B, the appetite is there.
Future Plans
Q-Tip plans to repackage Kamaal the Abstract and finally give it a proper release around Christmas. If that is not exciting enough, he already has plans to be back in the studio in January with producer Nigel Godrich. If that name is familiar to you, it is because Radiohead has ordained Godrich as their personal producer, placing him behind the boards on such landmark albums as OK Computer and Kid A.
Of course, then there is the Standard. This is the super-group that Q-Tip and Common planned to form last year. I hope that they will actually get themselves into a studio one day and put out a record.
In the meantime, you can check out A Tribe Called Quest’s classic “Can I Kick It” in the film “The Wackness” starring the brilliant Ben Kingsley in theaters now. I saw it last week and it is worth going for the soundtrack alone – yet staying for the story. The film takes place in 1994, so the soundtrack features some of the great MCs from that era, such as Craig Mack, Nas, KRS-One, Biggie and Meth.
Aug 5th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
[...] We recently posted a related story on Rock the Bells headliner A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip. Check it out here. [...]