VOODOO EXPERIENCE | WORSHIP THE MUSIC | OCT 30 / OCT 31 / NOV 1, 2009

Modern hip-hop and R&B music can both arguably be divided into pre- and post-A Tribe Called Quest, and the musical efforts of its lead MC and producer Kamaal Ibn John Fareed—better known to the world as Q-Tip. Consider the jazzy sampling, laid-back tempos and boho-chic vibe he introduced, then mull over the bohemian posturing and sounds of the neo-soul movement, plus any rap music that shies away from hardcore posturing. All roads lead back to ATCQ and the beats, rhymes and life of one man: Q-Tip. And now the time is ripe for The Renaissance, the Abstract MC’s first solo album in nine years.

Back when rap production was all about James Brown samples and dense, agitated sonic collages, Q-Tip was digging deeper into the record crates for snatches of stand-up bass and obscure jazz. 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.

Taking the same type of nonconformist risks as Stevie Wonder, John Lennon and the mavericks of other music genres, Q-Tip has always gone left when it comes to his position in hip-hop culture. People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, the 1990 debut of A Tribe Called Quest, introduced Q-Tip’s iconoclast stance.

The Renaissance marks the return of one of the most recognizable voices and individualist figures in all of hip-hop. At this moment for change in the hip-hop nation and the nation at large, The Renaissance could not have come at a more appropriate moment. Leave it to Q-Tip to be right on time.