Q-Tip – The Renaissance

The Spin: Q-Tip – The Renaissance
Release: October 29, 2008
2008 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recording, Inc.
[rate 4]

Q-Tip’s The Renaissance came out on election day, offering a chance at redemption after Amplified was panned by critics and Kamaal The Abstract was controversially shelved (he compares the sound of it to that of Outkast‘s Stankonia, which went on to immense critical and commercial success). This after Q-Tip was often regarded as the better lyricist and an integral part of the production team behind the very successful and revolutionizing A Tribe Called Quest. The album title bears relevance as Q-Tip provides the production on all but one track (a very good J Dilla track), provides all the verses, and even contributes quite a bit of singing.

Q-tip does not take his opportunity at redemption lightly, immediately taking a cue from Barack Obama when he exclaims, “It’s up to me to bring back the hope.” Seconds later in the first song, Q-tip reminds us how much hip-hop has missed him positing, “What good is an ear without a Q-Tip in it?” Q-tip sets the lyrical tone within seconds of the album’s beginning. By the time the first chorus is reached, there’s an eerie familiarity to the voice singing. There is a quality to the vocal recording, coupled with the guitar accompaniment, that is reminiscent of Lenny Kravitz, but upon closer listen, it actually is Kamaal himself. His tenor singing is delightfully effective.

All that being said, with as good a musician as Q-Tip has proven to be, and with as lauded as the production by Tribe was, Q-Tip’s production on this provides an all-too-stale brand of repetitive and predictable patterns of very recognizable sounds.

The album’s first single, “Gettin Up” is a realistic and light-hearted song about a romantic relationship. The chunky drums and funky bass line provide a clean foundation for the catchy piano sample, strings, and well-orchestrated Q-Tip harmonies. Of course, with lines like “We can start a clan just like the Kennedys,” the track is well-rounded. Still this track, as many throughout the album, sounds dated.

“You” provides an interesting departure from the loopy jazz hip-hop offerings of the majority of the album, albeit perhaps only because it’s less funky and less loopy than most of the album. Q-Tip does himself a favor by rapping with a little more fervor on this track than we’re accustomed to. He expresses a jaded, skeptical, even cynical view of a relationship. Q-tip seems to wander into paranoia, but musically manages to keep a cool head, although vulnerable, pseudo-arrogant and insecure lines like, “We’ll make amends if you admit it” indicate a very human, indeed erring and self-absorbed side to Q-Tip. The minimalism of the backing track creates a sort of ebb and flow, with the constant hi-hat providing little chops to divide the beats, facilitating greater expression through his distinctive vocal tone. Further, the super-repetitive hook eventually has you walking around the house uncontrollably saying, “Ishyou, and at the end of it all…” etc.

“We fight/We love” is a funky track about people’s struggles that reminds us how good Raphael Saadiq‘s vocals are.

“Move/The Renaissance” is really two background beats with similar verses on each. “Move” is the most club-friendly track on the album. The recently-released second single, the only track not produced by Q-Tip, was produced by the late great J Dilla. Dilla’s ability to pattern drums, interestingly use effects, and chop up and re-arrange samples provides another of his many classic infectious tracks. Q-Tip, as in several tracks on the album, reminds of his hip-hop legacy, stating, “Your dubious style might rock for right now, but in the long run, you really lost one.” This is, far and away, the most interesting track on the album, and it inspires some of Q-Tip’s best rhymes. Interestingly, the second-most interesting backing track is at the end of this song as the music changes to a beat based on a sample of whistling and guitar.

“Move” music video link.

The album finishes out with a trio of forgettable tracks sporting solid lyrical output. Norah Jones and D’Angelo make it onto two of those tracks to help distinguish them, but to little avail.

Overall The Renaissance is a good, but not great album. It’s an album that’s enjoyable and the more you listen, the more you appreciate Q-Tip’s brand of lyrical wizardry. However, the simple rhythms throughout with overly-looped jazz and soul-influenced instrumentation provide nothing new for the listener. If this album had been cut ten years earlier, it might’ve had more pop, but in today’s hip-hop climate, many of the sounds simply aren’t as fresh as they once were. In fact, it’s so reminiscent of the type of production from early Q-Tip works that it’s easy to imagine people listening to it and assuming that Q-Tip’s producing skills have made little progress. We’ll leave the jury out on that one, but for now, Q-Tip’s long-anticipated album gets four out of five stars, mostly because he’s Q-Tip and we still recognize that he’s great at what he does. Realistically, though, this is a Michael Buble for hip-hop album, just not as far back-reaching. Nostalgic, yes, but somehow, I don’t think that’s exactly what this renaissance man was going for.