Mainstream hip-hop sucked in ’08. Overproduction, Auto-Tuned
“singing” and overuse of the synthesizer—all signs pointing to a
genre in dire need of an enema. Enter The Renaissance, an album
that rushes through the system like a sweet and heady colonic.
But—contrary to the album title’s suggestion —Q-Tip isn’t
orchestrating a hip-hop rebirth. He’s simply doing what A Tribe Called
Quest did best: bringing smooth wordplay and beats so easy-groovy you
could fall asleep to them. Coupled with old-school scratchy samples and
‘Tip’s trademark purr, this has a remarkably cleansing effect. After a
year of Lil’ Wayne, this might be what the doctor ordered.
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2009.