chillin with Tip
Q-Tip is back with Live at the Renaissance (Universal)!
So, what's the album like then? It's essentially a mix between the most all-out, embracable Afro-American FM rock à la Lenny Kravitz (never thought I would write this but I mean it in a good way!), and an odd, almost inverted form of celebration of all-time, main course hip-hop staple fodder: "That's Sexy" (with Andre 3000) twists that old, worn LL Cool J-ish hip-hop hookline "something like a phenomenon" yet one more time; "Black Boy" is Pharoahe Monch's Godzilla anthem "Simon Says" turned inside out; "Shame on You" (with Stevie Wonder and Mario Winans) samples Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones" to great effect; "For the Nasty" is apex era ATCQ updated to the new millennium; "Official" is basically a live rendition of Pete Rock's gem "Once Upon a Time" from Slum Village's Fantastic vol II. And isn't "Lisa" a nod to "Mona Lisa" - both the Slick Rick version and that version were Wyclef Jean cuts butter with the Neville Brothers?
Where does the Lenny K equation come in then? Well, if Kamaal the Abstract was entirely set in the jazz club, on Live at the Renaissance Tip has sort of filtered all his hip-hop niceness through an FM radio filter instead - it's all electric guitar licks, black rock ephemera, music for transistors rather than dinner tables. And it's actually a great move - this is what Gwen Stephani's productions would have sounded like if they were targeting a more 'mature' audience, and had more of that playful grit funk attitude that we always expect from the Tip.
To sum up: This is classic Americana, painted with the widest brush, by the greatest charmer in hip-hop. Quite hard to resist, in other words. Q-tip wants to take your daughter to the drive-in, eat popcorns and giggle all night. And of course, it's friggin' impossible to refuse him that!
Q-Tip: I'm Not Gonna Have It
Q-Tip: Official
So, what's the album like then? It's essentially a mix between the most all-out, embracable Afro-American FM rock à la Lenny Kravitz (never thought I would write this but I mean it in a good way!), and an odd, almost inverted form of celebration of all-time, main course hip-hop staple fodder: "That's Sexy" (with Andre 3000) twists that old, worn LL Cool J-ish hip-hop hookline "something like a phenomenon" yet one more time; "Black Boy" is Pharoahe Monch's Godzilla anthem "Simon Says" turned inside out; "Shame on You" (with Stevie Wonder and Mario Winans) samples Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones" to great effect; "For the Nasty" is apex era ATCQ updated to the new millennium; "Official" is basically a live rendition of Pete Rock's gem "Once Upon a Time" from Slum Village's Fantastic vol II. And isn't "Lisa" a nod to "Mona Lisa" - both the Slick Rick version and that version were Wyclef Jean cuts butter with the Neville Brothers?Where does the Lenny K equation come in then? Well, if Kamaal the Abstract was entirely set in the jazz club, on Live at the Renaissance Tip has sort of filtered all his hip-hop niceness through an FM radio filter instead - it's all electric guitar licks, black rock ephemera, music for transistors rather than dinner tables. And it's actually a great move - this is what Gwen Stephani's productions would have sounded like if they were targeting a more 'mature' audience, and had more of that playful grit funk attitude that we always expect from the Tip.
To sum up: This is classic Americana, painted with the widest brush, by the greatest charmer in hip-hop. Quite hard to resist, in other words. Q-tip wants to take your daughter to the drive-in, eat popcorns and giggle all night. And of course, it's friggin' impossible to refuse him that!
Q-Tip: I'm Not Gonna Have It
Q-Tip: Official
posted by Jazz Jonz at 8:07 PM
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