Search - Q-Tip :: Kamaal the Abstract

Q-Tip - Kamaal the Abstract

Constant | Vancouver, BC Canada | 09/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A Tribe Called Quest's lead MC Q-Tip (A.K.A. Jonathan Davis, Kamaal Ibn John Fareed) has been working to get ownership of the masters for his unreleased solo album "Kamaal The Abstract" (2002). This one never made it to the shelves as a misguided Arista Records thought it was "un-commercial". While creating a catalogue of ATCQ's group & solo releases I was happy to find out about this nine track release, a 2001 advance/promo which I found could be listened to on the web. Listening to this album is a highly enjoyable experience as Q-Tip fills this release with a creative assortment of Hip-Hop, Jazz & Alternative Rock instrumentals which make every track distinct. Great music to chill too. Early track's like "Feeling","Do You Dig U?" & "A Million Times" vibe well, Queen's Q-Tip keeps his lyrical presence limited, instead letting the memorable instrumentals (live drums, guitar, organ, saxophone, electric piano, trumpets, flute) hold their own as they do throughout this release. Q-Tip sings away on "Blue Girl" which is laced with more on point instrumentals, guitar, piano etc. "Barely In Love" vibes with good intentions and hand claps. Q-Tip rhymes about one of women's most loved possessions on "Heels" & looks to raise the bar on "Abstractionisms". The short "Caring" features some smooth female vocals and chilled out piano beats. The highlight of this album for me is the closing track "Even If It So", Q-Tip shines on this joint telling the story of a single mum's hustle to make a living and create a better life, backed by some outstanding instrumentals - love the trumpets. Found myself bumping my Tribe album's more recently, the infusion of Hip Hop and Jazz has never been done so well, finding this short but sweet release was like a breath of fresh air. Q-Tip has another unreleased album "Live at the Renaissance", it's rumored to be released soon as "The Renaissance", hopefully "Kamaal the Abstract" sees the light of day soon too, highly recommend checking out this release if you can find it."

Hopefully this will see proper distrubution.

Keith R. Jackson | Silver Spring, MD United States | 10/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For Kamaal to come up with this, only to have LA Reid shelve it back in 2001/2, is a crime.



Great stuff and a totally different direction for him.



I came across this through a friend in the music industry. If you have the chance, please give this a listen.



Hopefully he can buy the rights to the music back from Arista (aren't artist for hire contracts great?) and release it sometime in 2007/8."