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If you asked me what my top five albums of all time were, I would probably give you a different answer every time, but the one album that would remain at the top would be A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory. Easily my favorite album (though It Takes a Nation of Millions occasionally comes close when I'm feeling political), its the closest thing I've heard to a perfect hip hop record. Though I liked People's Instinctive Travels..., it wasn't until I heard Low End Theory that I appreciated just how good ATCQ was. When it was announced that the group was disbanding after the release of The Love Movement, I continued to hold out hope that they would get back together one day. Though they performed together for last fall's 2K Sports Bounce Tour, frontman Q-Tip recently stated that they have no plans of putting out another album. In lieu of a new Tribe cd, I had to settle for the latest solo effort from Q-Tip, DJ Dub MD's Open the Mixtape: Abstract Innovations.
Though Q-Tip has managed to release a couple of hit singles since leaving A Tribe Called Quest, he's never come close to matching his earlier work. Part of the problem has been that, without the braggadocios Phife Dawg acting as a foil, Tip's abstract rhymes just don't sound as interesting. Much like the lyrical relationship between Andre and Big Boi, or to a lesser extent Dr. Dre and Snoop/Eminem, Q-Tip's sidekick kept things from sounding monotonous.
On his latest mixtape, Q-Tip works with a few guest rappers, including Heavy D and Andre 3000, but Phife is nowhere to be found. That's too bad, because Abstract Innovations comes close to reproducing that classic Tribe sound. Most of the beats make use of Jazz samples, a signature of the old Tribe albums, and some of the songs even feature a live Jazz band. Tip even sounds the same as he did ten years ago, though his lyrics aren't quite as inspired as anything you'd hear on Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders. Q-Tip has made it clear that he's moved on from A Tribe Called Quest, but after listening to this mixtape its hard not to imagine how much better it could have been if he had continued to work with Phife Dawg. As it is, though, this is still a good effort.
Two tracks from Open the Mixtape: Abstract Innovations:
Not Gon' Have It
Scram Jones
You can find links to purchase the Abstract Innovations mixtape over at DJ Dub MD's MySpace page. For more updates on Q-Tip, go to his MySpace page.
While we're on the subject of Q-Tip, here are a few of my favorite Tribe videos:
Jazz (We've Got)
Left My Wallet in El Segundo
Scenario
And one more video:
Nas: World Is Yours (Q-Tip Remix)
2/1/2007 8:57:30 AM posted by Fresh