The Renaissance (CD/DVD)

It seems like artists like Q-Tip who have had strong successful years in the 90's and have come back out seemingly have a hard time finding a new audience or I should say finding appreciation in this younger generation of hip hop heads. Like a previous reviewer said this album picks up.. I would say more so where 'beats rhymes and life' left off.. but same difference. In this type of neo-concious hip hop whatever you want to call it I have seen some failures of where for instance Common dropped off with Electric Circus. That being said I still remain and will always be a Common fan but I think Q-Tip executed this album extremely well.There was alot riding on his return, 9 years since his last album? Yeah, that's alot of pressure and I think he did an excellent job in expressing his appreciation for abstract music types and his sharp lyrical skills. Most importantly as a fan of ATCQ I connected which is important. The momentum from previous album to this one is continuous to me, CONSISTENT! That's the word I'm looking for. Whereas in the example of Common moving from "like water for chocolate" to "electric circus" was far from consistent. Once again respect for artistic creativity and all that but at the end of the day it's not an album you put on to vibe to, kind of like Miles Davis Bitches Brew. Excellent masterpiece but..? Now Universal Mind Control is an album I'm really looking forward to hearing but I digress.This album is too short, leaves you wanting for more. Perhaps he did this on purpose to set the listener up for a future release. I think Tip did an exceptional job of satisfying ATCQ fans and at the same time doing something new. The album also blends very well from start to finish, no fillers or anything mis-placed. Strong tracks that hit me right away were of course 'Gettin Up' with it's strong positive message and then 'Move' and 'Dance On Glass'. I think Dilla would be extremely proud if he could hear this now. Alas hearing this I think a new Tribe album would be nice but I don't think they are going there right now which is just fine. Thank you for this album.

Okay when I first listened to this I hated every track. My hand couldn't get to the skip button fast enough. Then I gave it the vehicle test where I could really feel the base and try to figure out where Q-Tip is coming from. Anyway now I love this cd. There are a few tracks I still hate but many of them are hot. I thought about and realized this is just Q-Tip making music and not trying to be anybody else but Q-Tip. We all know Q-Tip has skills, so once you sit back and let him do his thing you kind of get into it. Like he says, 'rhyming ain't the issue-that's how I'm gonna get you'. I give this 5 stars for originality . If you're looking for the same old thing this may not be the cd for you. but when he calls himself 'the Luke Cage of the loose leaf page...' I have to agree with him.

Q-Tip returned in 2008 with "The Renaissance", his first album in nine years. This album had been in the making since 2005, under it's original titles "Open" and "Live At The Renaissance". Two songs were released in that time, "Work It Out" and "The Fever"- neither of which made it on the album, but the official first single "Gettin' Up" did. It starts off with "Johnny Is Dead" and leads into "Won't Trade" which isn't a bad song, but is the weakest compared to the rest of the album. Later on in the album is the song "You" in which Q-Tip confronts a woman over her infidelity. The long absent D'Angelo appears on the inspirational tune "Believe" and the closer "Shaka" touches on the deceased, including his former manager Shaka, jazz musician Weldon Irvine and the late J. Dilla, who produced the only song that Q-Tip didn't- the rather brief "Move". "The Renaissance" has only twelve songs, but all of them are worthy of listening to from start to finish. This record will not disappoint.

For those that have felt that hip-hop has lost it's way as I have Q-Tip has found it again. The Renaissance has captured the pure essence of what hip-hop really is. A fresh break is served up from the cursing, violent depictions, rims and ice stories as of late from most artists.The production is solid, the verses are tight, and the collaborations are smooth and cohesive. We need more real hip-hop like this to show and remind people of what hip-hop really is and was. This is a good album, not just a few tracks which is what we buy albums for in the for first place. Artists that complain of downloads of songs and decreased album sales, take notes from Q-Tip on this album.Buy it, listen, and fall back in love with hip-hop. It's back, and Q-Tip brought it with The Renaissance.

I heard the 2nd track on a wefunkradio show ([...]) and thought it must be a pretty decent album if it includes that track... It exceeds all expectations - Each track has it's own merits. I've had it on heavy rotation for over a week now and am not sick of it. Relaxed tempo, melodic, tons of what must be excellent production... I'm no composer or musician or anything, but there's musical layers there, and multiple narratives. - The MCing is tight throughout and uniquely interacts with the classic soul sampling & modern female vocals. It's varied (good for ADD types like myself - incorporates lots of styles and influences), yet consistent - the whole album flows from one track to the next. Great Bass. Can't recommend it enough. This is my first review ever - that's now much I'm liking it. :u)

The first copy was a little too warped but Amazon has an outstanding return policy so it only cost me a walk to UPS.The second copy is nice and flat and an awesome album - it's two 180g discs, 3 songs a side, Sterling press, amazing.

I have always enjoyed the music that Qtip and TCQ made. Electric relaxation is one of my favorite hip hop songs. The renaissance has a mature jazzy flow that almost anyone can enjoy and it is not vulgar and trashy like alot of the stuff that's coming out today. I would have given it 5 statrs but in my opinion the release is too short. I would have love to see at least 15 -17 songs on here. This better get an award for the year and put the garbage that artists like little Wayne releases to rest.

I ordered it as a present. It arrived. I wrapped it. I gave it as a present. End of its journey in my knowledge.

Great vinylVery difficult to fi d albumGood price.

Voilà pour moi et moi seul peut-être le disque de rap que je préfère car c'est vraiment un chef d'oeuvre de rap so cool!!!! Ce gars là est un petit génie du petit truc qui fait vibrer l'ambiance avec un sens du rythme fascinant, cool mais ça groove avec une classe incroyable...Et puis sa voix si particulière que en plus de tout ses talents Prince a su vite remarqué...! Bref a avoir absolument!!!

Das Album ist einfach genial, ich liebe die Gang A Tribe called Quest, die es leider nicht mehr in der gesamten Anzahl existiert, aber QTip macht sein Ding auch alleine spitzenmäßig gut.....reinhören. *****

...und mit vielen überraschungsmomenten. muss einfach eins der besten hiphop-alben der ganzen letzten jahre sein. was für ein erfrischender gegenpol zum stumpfen hiphop-einerlei des abgekauten mainstream. damn, he`s back!!