Q-Tip leaves hip hop fresh, ready for rebirth
By Maidere Sorhondo
In this era of synthesizers, pitch correctors and computer-generated beats, Q-Tip's new album, "The Renaissance," brings hip hop back to its musical roots.
As a former member of the legendary hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip has integrated the group's jazzy style and intellectual lyrics into his solo career.
After a nine-year hiatus since his last album, "Amplified," Q-Tip returns to tracks with live percussion and bass backgrounds, retro DJ scratches and melodic flows in "The Renaissance."
Q-Tip also collaborates with soulful companions on his new album, which includes songs featuring Norah Jones, Raphael Saadiq and D'Angelo.
In "Life is Better," a collaboration with Jones, Q-Tip pays tribute to those artists that have helped create and maintain the essence of hip hop.
He lists pioneers including June Bug, Biz Markie, Run-D.M.C. and Doug E. Fresh, along with leaders of the new school like Tupac and Biggie, Easy-E, Bone Thugz-n-Harmony and Common.
Q-Tip parodies today's dark age of rap in his song "Dance on Glass." The song begins, "The people at the label say they want something to repeat, but all my people really want something for the street."
This theme is reflected throughout the album with a cool, underground sound that is unique to the cookie-cutter formula that has taken over much of the hip hop industry.
Contrary to the standardized and recycled beats most rap artists use today, Q-Tip originally produced 11 of the 12 tracks on "The Renaissance," infusing them with a variety of musical flavors like Motown and funk.
"Move" is a six-minute head-nodding track that displays Q-Tip's talent as a producer. The song includes a diced sample of The Jackson Five's "Dancing Machine," then breaks down midway and switches to a simple drum mix where Q-Tip gives a quick history of his emcee career starting at the park in his childhood neighborhood in Queens.
Q-Tip gets funky on track seven, titled "Manwomanboogie," emphasizing a quick and catchy drum-bass backdrop and the Amy Winehouse-esque voice of Amanda Diva on the hook.
Maintaining the meaningful lyrics that rap was originally intended for, "The Renaissance" appropriately features a politically motivated song about the Iraq War titled, "We Fight/We Love."
Q-Tip rhymes about the ironic dichotomy of our society's collective personality, where we are lovers at home while simultaneously fighting a war overseas.
The hip hop veteran of 20 years has created an album with classic and unique beats, raising the bar for the genre and setting the stage for contemporary mainstream rappers to induce the rebirth of hip hop from a commodity back to a genuine form of music.
Contact Maidere Sorhondo at msorhondo@scu.edu.