The Renaissance - Dark Publications

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Album Description
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ALBUM FROM Q-TIP - "THE RENAISSANCE"

The album mixes soul beats, piano, guitars, and Q-Tip's usual thoughtprovoking lyricism, which takes you on a trip from relationships and summer songs to social issues of late, and has a kind of '90s feel to it. "The Renaissance" features Raphael Saadiq, Norah Jones, D'Angelo and Amanda Diva.

Album Description
2008 album from the former A Tribe Called Quest rapper, his first solo album in nine years. Produced primarily by Q-Tip with plenty of live instrumentation and a love fixation, The Renaissance is a stark portrait of the artist as an elder statesman. One listen to the frenetic drumming and strutting live bassline of a track like 'ManWomanBoogie' reveals that Q-Tip is on a mission to create original music as timeless as the tracks he used to sample once upon a time. The Renaissance marks the return of one of the most recognizable voices in all of Hip Hop.

Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Re-"Amplified" at last November 4, 2008
32 out of 35 found this review helpful

Q-Tip's solo career reads like a bad joke. As A Tribe Called Quest's frontman, he led the alternative hip hop movement and helped establish hip hop as a literate and creative art form during the 90s. After the Native Tongues moved on and ATCQ disbanded, Tip released his solo debut Amplified in 1999 and looked forward to a career of production and performing as his abstract genius and legend would warrant. And after ten years, at least three inexplicably shelved LPs (most notably "Kamaal the Abstract," which got as far as promo pressings), and countless record labels, Tip's long awaited follow-up "The Renaissance" arrived almost silently. Release delays date back years, and since rumors of "The Renaissance" have floated for so long, the quick and quiet release seems odd, especially given his huge fanbase and genre-defying appeal.

At 43 minutes and twelve tracks, it's a concise and focused listen and is immediately enjoyable. While it emits a spirit somewhat comparable to a Tribe recording and shows a hint of the smooth Soulquarians vibe of the late-90s, I'd say it's most similar to Amplified. However, Amplified's most frequent criticism is that it is too forced and pop-oriented, and "The Renaissance" does not have that problem. The music is comparably playful, upbeat, and bouncy, but is less poppy and more mature and soulful than its predecessor. The production, mostly piano-based, is layered with a range of artistic instrumentation that sounds classy despite its fun and appealing nature. It's a very clean and consistent sound, and transitions are so fluid that the first half seems like variations upon a single idea.

Tip still has the charm and wit of the wily teen from People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, but his focus has shifted with time and maturity. He's happier to drop a clever one-liner or a latently insightful verse than elaborate upon social ills as he did in the 90s. He doesn't often display the style that led to his "abstract rapper" tag; instead his lyrics concern different manners of love, music, and levels of inspiration. The hooks are strong and his approach is well-rounded, seemingly intent upon the combined quality of the music and rap. No guest MCs appear, but vocal contributors include Raphael Saadiq, D'Angelo, Norah Jones, and Amanda Diva.

The disc opens to the pleasant, bouncy guitar strums of "Johnny Is Dead," which give way to an appealing arrangement with rumbling bass and piano chords and a strong performance from Tip. The breezy "Gettin' Up" and "Official" are similar in approach, structure, and sound to the opener and achieve the same appeal as well. "We Fight/Love" is an excellent collaboration with a particularly airy Raphael Saadiq, who complements Tip nicely over a great arrangement. Another highlight is the hidden title track after "Move," which has a hypnotic beat and the album's most insightful lyrics. "Dance on Glass" picks up when the rich beat finally kicks in about a minute through, and the Norah Jones duet "Life Is Better" is smooth, inspired excellence. "Won't Trade" is clever, and "You" is a decent love song that sounds good but moves too slowly. However, "Believe" with D'Angelo is wonderful musically and lyrically, and the closer "Shaka" is the track that most resembles a classic Tribe cut.

"The Renaissance" is not the revolutionary opus that some might expect from Tip after such a long layover, but as Dr. Dre should soon learn, hype builds around years of delays. The music is totally enjoyable and well-produced even if not totally uncharted (granted, some of these tracks are years old), and the LP reminds me why I had so eagerly anticipated Q-Tip's return a few years ago. This album is a great listen and should not disappoint.

5 out of 5 stars

WOW...I didn't think they made HipHop like this anymore! Damn! November 5, 2008
28 out of 30 found this review helpful

I have been listening to hiphop for about 25 years now (I'm 33 now) and I have been enjoying it less and less as they years go by. There use to be a time when most hiphop releases were strong, start to finish, of course there would be 1-3 tracks that could be left off...but mostly you could listen to them,be totally satisfied and the re-play value was damn good.

Then (and this is my opinion) around the time tupac and biggie passed you could see hiphop drastically changing...and not really for it's own good. It seemed people began looking for that one big single to drive the sale of their releases...now while that isn't really new, but the rest of the albums/CD's started suffering big time as a result. Yeah, you had massive first week sales because of the "hot single" but the replay value of the release started dropping big-time and you could see where hiphop was headed, right where it now resides - a disposable artform, relagated to be a ringtone for somebody's cellphone/iphone/blackberry etc.

Again, I know they'll be some cats (especially youngin's) that will blast me or ridicule me for my opinion...oh well, I guess that's apart of the risk when you put your thoughts out there for everyone to see and crtique.

Anyway, I have been waiting for a release (it didn't matter whom really) that I could listen to over and over, where it felt...timeless, classic, the bomb etc.(LOL) or whatever you wish to call it. Outkast's Aquemini(1998), Dr. Dre's 2001(1999)The Mashall Mathers LP (2000), Common's Like Water for Chocolate(2000), Nas's Stillmatic/Masta Ace's Disposable Arts/Jay z's The Blueprint(2001), J-Live's All of the Above(2002), Scarface's The Fix (2002), Little Brother's The Listening(2003), Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition/ The Foreign Exchange Connected/Madvillian's Madvilliany(2004) Common's Be/DangerDoom's The Mouse and the Mask/ Little Brother's The Minstrel Show(2005) Ghostface's Fishscale/Nas's Hip Hop is Dead/Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor(2006) Blu and Exile's Below the Heavens/Brother Ali's The Undisputed Truth/Jay Z's American Gangster/Talib Kweli's Eardrum(2007) Now I know I've listed a bunch of CD's but compared to the output during 1998 until...it really isn't a lot of classic material that stands the test of time coming from the world of hiphop (again this is just my opinion)

Which now brings me to the newly realeased (oft delayed) Q-tip cd The Renaissance. I just bought this CD yesterday and I must say that...this is one of the best releases that I've have heard in a long time. I mean the production is near-flawless, the rhymes are on point and diverse and the re-play value is off the charts! My favorite joint is We Love/We Fight with R. Saadiq and Gettin' Up...but the mark of a classic is that you can listen to the whole CD from top to bottom and it makes you want to listen to it again and again. This CD has that vibe going for it. As a matter of fact, I'm going to take the day off and chill in my ride with this CD, 4 real! Please, don't take my comments the wrong way(for those who like what's currently on the radio) because I'm not really dowing what's out there...I'm just saying I don't feel that spirit/love/passion/diversity that's been primarily missing for the last few years...it seems like everybody wants to get paid, nobody really wants to make art anymore...mostly just "ringtone clones" out there.

Again, this is just my opinion.

Q-Tip/Kamaal, man we have missed you, big time! We love what you are doing and most of all we love you too man. Keep it up, we got your back brotha-man. By the way, when is that joint with Common coming out? Peace.

Isn't it funny that the day this CD comes out - The Renaissance - is the very same day that we elected the first black president...hmmm, it feels like there's a renaissance in the air indeed. May Heaven bless us all.

5 out of 5 stars

Tip is back in form November 4, 2008
17 out of 19 found this review helpful

Coming into this album, I thought we were going to see a repeat of Amplified, a few good songs that were radio worthy, but nowhere near as indightful as Tip's words with Tribe. I couldn't have been more wrong.The Renaissance from the opening track shows why many revere Q-Tip as a founding father of conscience hip-hop. Though not as buzzworthy as Amplified, Renaissance shows a side of Tip we have not seen since the days of Midnight Marauders. The mellow beats, heavy in rhodes and keyboards delivers the same vibe as the Ummah production that constructed Beats, Rhymes and Life. I would highly recommend this album, with notable songs being "Johhny Is Dead", Offical", "You", and "Believe". If you nodded your head to any Tribe albums, then NOT getting The Renaissance would be a flat out disaster

5 out of 5 stars

Q-Tip put his thing down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! November 4, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I have waited so long for another release from Q-Tip..I didn't even know he had a cd out till I went to BestBuy, and i'm so glad I did..this cd is excellent if you liked A Tribe called Quest...then this cd is a must very enjoyable to the point where you have just listened to the whole cd without realising it.....In one word Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!

3 out of 5 stars

Relief but not overwhelmingly impressed November 10, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful

I was excited to see a lyricist like Q-tip back on the scene with a new CD out and bought it without even really listening to his single out. I just wanted something he had. The beats on here were nice, and I enjoyed "It Was You," but lyrically, I didn't hear anything that really wow'd me. There were clever lines like the one about what's the use of an ear without a Q-tip, but I didn't hear anything that made me go "I have GOT to play that back." All in all, it was a decent listen, and I'm still bumping the CD, but I was looking for more lyrically instead of danceability.

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