Relationships provide fodder for “You” and “We Laugh/We Love,” two deeper, more complex examinations of personal connections. It’s hard not to feel good when listening to the smooth and sparkling piano of single “Gettin’ Up,” a standout celebration of life and love, which is a fairly rare commodity when quite a few rappers have since given into their dark sides. Yet, the album kicks off with a live band arrangement (one of quite a few actually) on “Johnny Is Dead,” a hypnotic opener that finds Tip offering his humility: “ I’m not a deity/ I’m far from perfect, see.” Of course, Q-Tip’s high speed delivery and nonchalant confidence on “Won’t Trade” shows a slightly amped up variation of the super cool emcee, giving listeners a strong reminder that this is one of the greatest rappers of all time we’re dealing with here. The Renaissance presents 12 tracks of everything that Q-Tip does best-soulful melodies, jazz-inflected samples and arrangements, positive rhymes, a laid-back party vibe and a flow “like butter.” Q-Tip produces all but one track, himself, making classic soul samples pop and crackle, coming to life with a vibrancy that’s timeless, yet with a vintage feel. and Kanye have reinvented themselves numerous times in recent years, The Renaissance is classic Q-Tip, crisp and alive with an abundance of feel good vibes. To hear Tip flow on leadoff track “Johnny Is Dead,” it would appear that no time had passed at all. While, inevitably, the expectations game can be a dicey one after such long periods of anticipation, The Renaissance not only meets, but exceeds those expectations.

To call this `long-awaited’ is the understatement of the year. The jazz fusion/soul-tinged Kamaal the Abstract was pulled after promos were sent out, and Open ran into roadblocks at two labels.Īfter a long and winding process of recording, label shopping and reconfiguring, Q-Tip emerges refreshed and energized with the brand new The Renaissance, an album that reveals Q-Tip as strong as he’s ever sounded, with an incredibly bright and solid set of songs.

The legendary emcee and former member of A Tribe Called Quest has recorded at least three albums since 1999, but had been unsuccessful in getting them released. So if it seems like eons since Q-Tip released his solo debut Amplified, relatively speaking, it has been. Kanye West has released four albums in half that amount of time, and Lupe Fiasco will have retired before he even reaches his fifth. For a genre, it’s enough time to birth a half-dozen hyphenated subgenres. For an average artist, that’s enough time to release 3-4 albums.

Q tip the renaissance