BY DYLAN PETERSON

Hip-hop is experiencing a rebirth.

And, just as he was 20 years ago,
Q-Tip is at the forefront of it.

68 / RELEVANT_MARCH/APRIL 09
 he early 1990s was a
good time for hip-hop.
Groups like A Tribe
Called Quest were
pushing the genre of the
streets into very new
territory, introducing
a fresh, intellectually
edgy brand of hip-hop to
the masses. Now, after
a decade-long lull of
bling and krunk, hip-hop
seems to be experiencing
a rebirth of sorts, with
a renewed emphasis on musical experimentation,
intelligent lyrics and style. Is it any wonder,
then, that after a decade-long hiatus, Q-Tip
is back?
His highly anticipated comeback album, The
Renaissance, released in late 2008 to much critical
acclaim. “My last release was nine years ago,” Q-Tip
says. “I recorded a couple of albums, but unfortunately
one never came out. And for another one the label
folded. So my attempts were thwarted. But we stayed
resilient and surfaced with The Renaissance.”
Q-Tip, whose given name is Kamaal Ibn John Fareed,
got his start as the frontman for A Tribe Called Quest
in 1988. Hailing from Queens, N.Y., the groundbreaking
group fused jazz influences into their unique brand of
hip-hop, a risky move at the time, but one that affirmed
their devotion to artistry before fame. And even though
Tribe found commercial success and legendary status in
the early ‘90s, their aspirations were not of capitalistic
gains. Tribe was a group for the intelligent hip-hop fan.
Q-Tip’s rhymes were not just about dancing or partying,
but of alternate ideas on the urban life.
“Well, it’s easy to be hard, like that old song says,”
he says. “It’s easy to operate behind a face of menace
rather than a face of goodness. Because, you know,
happiness and joy is viewed as weakness in this
society.”
Today, Q-Tip is working to revitalize the hip-
hop world, one that has been barraged by years of
distasteful, unartistic frivolity. Just as A Tribe Called
Quest purposefully refrained from unimportant themes
in their beginning, Q-Tip keeps a positive outlook on the
future of hip-hop.
“Menace and hardness and meanness are sometimes
viewed as strengths, usually synonymous with power,”
he says. “Especially our ideas of power in this country.
So when you grow up in the hood and you rap and you
have some sort of success and you make money, you
turn to menace and meanness to equate yourself with.
But I think that’s weakness.”
Q-Tip’s strength is seen in his endurance. He fronted
Tribe for 10 years, and hasn’t stopped working on his
solo career since the group broke up. He was a leader
of a musical revolution and now stands as tall as ever in
hopes of hip-hop’s rebirth. “The time has moved along,
because of that the landscape will change,” he says.
In the 20 years since he hit the scene, the hip-hop
landscape has definitely changed. “It’s interesting, but
you don’t really see groups anymore,” he says. “Back
in the day you had Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Run
DMC, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest. You know, it was more

70 / RELEVANT_MARCH/APRIL 09
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Q-TIP
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duo is finally on the map in a major way and
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time to come.
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DAGHA
Boston’s hip-hop scene
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Dagha stands as the
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72 / RELEVANT_MARCH/APRIL 09
group-oriented. Today, it’s just solo.”
Q-Tip wonders if this shift has been
detrimental to the art. “It’s very self-centric,
and because of that the spirit of the music has
changed,” he says. “The spirit of the business is
based on individuality and self-identity. Which
makes the music, on a whole, less communal.
And because of that the music has less staying
power.”
If staying power is any sort of indicator of
an art’s value, then Q-Tip is right. Even today,
A Tribe Called Quest sounds fresh. And Q-Tip’s
new album sounds just as inspired as anything
Tribe released. His secret? “I feel like you have
to be connected to a community. Even if you’re
a solo artist, you have to be surrounded by some
sort of people that [share] your principles.”
You probably know Q-Tip’s community—
artists like Madlib, Talib Kwali, The Roots and
Kanye West are just a few of the artists who keep
each other on track creatively. “We interact and
interface with each other,” he says. “I think for
what I do, my brand of hip-hop needs an alive,
vibrant community.”
That community is growing. For his most
recent tour, Q-Tip brought along up-and-comers
The Cool Kids. Like Q-Tip, musically and lyrically
The Cool Kids espouse a minimalist/throwback
approach to hip-hop. The tour showcased two
generations’ mutual respect toward a purer kind
of hip-hop.
“I’m happy that I’m still able to participate in
something that’s considered new and fresh, it’s
truly a blessing,” Q-Tip says. “The renaissance is
for everybody. I’m older than a lot of them, but
I’m still nestled in a fresh, new category, which is
very nice. And I think that should exemplify what
the great possibilities are.
“Hopefully those popular artists that are
putting out that same type of music all the time
will start to open their minds and take more
musical chances. Hip-hop, and music in general,
is something that should be diverse. At the same
time Jay-Z gets recognition, Talib Kwali should,
too. When Beyonce is getting it, so should her
sister.”
Q-Tip believes the times are right for a change
in hip-hop’s scenery. “The playing field should be
leveled, so all people can hear all types of music.
That’s my hope for music.”
His hope is most appropriately displayed
through The Renaissance. The album showcases
Q-Tip rapping and producing with finesse
and style. Like the Tribe albums before it, The
Renaissance has a timeless quality. It doesn’t
sound like “2008,” just as Midnight Marauders
doesn’t sound like “1993.”
“The meaning of the renaissance is rebirth or
an awakening of spirit, an artistic spirit usually,”
Q-Tip says. “The renaissance right now is about
waking up to what’s happening in a sociopolitical
sense and hopefully an artistic sense, too. You
can have a reawakening, a rebirth, at any time.
So why not now?”
As is usually the case with good art, a
representation of the times is apparent in the
music. The most fascinating coincidence of The
Renaissance’s timing is its release date—Nov.
4, 2008; the day Barack Obama was elected
to be the next president of the United States of
America.
“It’s monumental on so many different
levels,” Q-Tip says. “You know, obviously race
is one. The Bush administration is another. The
economic plight is a third. And the war in Iraq.
You know, there were a lot of things that were
pointing to a complete seismic shift. And I think
that his election exemplified that. What people
think of my record, and the timing, it all seems
very serendipitous. I’m proud to say that I did
something on that day that I can share with my
kids and they can share with their kids. It’s a
great thing; it was a great day.”
Q-Tip believes the rebirth, a reawakening of
spirit, can be linked sociopolitically to President
Obama’s election. “For this country and the
world, I hope that we’re patient with the new
president and new administration,” he says.
“Because it’s going to get a lot worse before it
gets better. I just hope people are patient. Stay
vigilant. Stay focused.”
With The Renaissance, Q-Tip is pushing
forward into a world ravaged by negativity. “Over
the past few years, whether it be Oprah having a
two-show discussion about hip-hop and the hip-
hop generation or whatever, we see a bunch of
rappers getting arrested and being careless,” he
says. “The kind of statements being made are
frivolous and over trite issues. You hear rappers
saying, ‘Yo man, I sold x-amount in my first week
of “dis-a-dissa,”’ y’know? Stuff like that lowers
the integrity of hip-hop.”
If a rapper wants to go on about diamonds
or hardness, they’re putting the cart before the
horse. Q-Tip explains: “[It comes back to] the
type of music being made. It should be more
about the craftsmanship of the music. It should
be more about what the music ‘is,’ and then
what it does. ‘What it is’ is going to dictate ‘what
it does.’ So you should try to make ‘what it is’
special. Then, ‘what it does’ will be even more
special.”
A Tribe Called Quest was special for “what
it is,” meaning its music was crafted with a
desire for communal interaction and thoughtful
discourse. And time proved that “what it does”
ended up being something special as well.
Tribe inspired many other artists to make
music that was different, music that didn’t just fit
into the status quo, but challenged the norm and
cultivated hope for the future. When art inspires
new hope, then it does something special.
Q-Tip makes music that is hopeful. Now we
have the privilege of being able to watch that
music and see “what it does.” 2
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