Via: BillboardYou on point Tip?
After being somewhat M.I.A. in recent years, Q-Tip is readying the release of his next album The Renaissance this Spring. In news that could be really good or possibly really bad, Tip is backed by a band on the album.
"I wanted a hip-hop sonic feel, something pure to the sound of hip-hop with real drums, real emotion and people taking solos," he tells Billboard. "In that sense this record feels like we're moving in a new direction ... something hip-hop should do."
The album features guest spots from D'Angelo, Common and Andre 3000. Hopefully, this is D'Angelo's comeback year too. Unfortunately, for those of you waiting for another Tribe Called Quest reunion, I wouldn't hold your breath.
As for performing again as part of A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip says the group's tour run last fall felt "good, like old times. We got a great response, and I was surprised to see so many young kids out." Will they do it again? "I don't want to say never," he replies after a pause. "But at this point, I think we're done for now."
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I was inspired by De La Soul and a Tribe Called Quest (mostly by their second albums "De La Soul is Dead" and "the Low End Theory"). The level of art, intelligence and the integration of jazz in this music was (in my most honest opinion) a masterpiece. It is because of these two rap groups that I feel that today I live a life of innovation, confidence, and optimism. Today, I am greatful for their influences on my life. With that being said, however, Q-Tip dissapointed me severely with his first solo "RAP" album. His videos and the lack of uniqueness after the TCQ break up showed that Q-Tip is only a fragment of what REAL hip hop music should be. In other words, although he was the intricate part of A Tribe Called Quest, he is not at his best without Phife and Ali. No question about that. I hope that his album "The Renaissance" really means what it is supposed to mean. A rebirth of intellectual and innovated Hip Hop with the sounds of intelligent jazz combined with the Q-Tip that inspired many people I know and knew during the golden age of hip hop (89-94). A Tribe Called Quest was my favorite group, and I looked up to Q-Tip more than any other. While most of my friends listened to Tupac and Dr. Dre...I was listening to the Native Tongues. My friends ended up in jail, dead, or ruined. While I was listening to groups that taught me to think, reason, and act accordingly. NO ONE could ever tell me that music deos not fundamentally affect people...it does!!! And Q-Tip seemed to have lost that understanding with that album that could never come close to the quality of ATCQ during their first four albums. In the mean time, I will continue to listen to the most talented jazz artists and the most talented hip hop group that has ever existed and has never dissapointed real hip hop fans....The Roots!!! Q-Tip should learn that REAL artists believe in their music...not the damn dollars. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker never liked Loius Armstrong because he was the system's puppet. Just like your first solo album. I hope you dont dissapoint your REAL fans again, and you preserve the legacy of TCQ which was innovation and intelligence...not immitation and redundancypeace to the ab and my ultimate respect for Malik and Ali Sincerely yours, Neo Babylon