For 19 years, the seemingly ageless Q-Tip
has connected the past with the future. From his Native Tongues
roots, Tip stood up for the Afrika Bambaataas and Red Alerts,
while he lobbied for a more colorful brand of Hip Hop in lyric and sound.
A decade later, Q-Tip reconnected the sexes with “Vivrant
Thing” and “Let’s Ride,” commercial records that upheld the
love, peace and having fun promised by A Tribe Called Quest. As Kamaal
The Abstract, the producing emcee looked far into the future, and scared
off some of the label people who his work had seemingly employed. Two albums
went shelved.
Today, with acting credits under his belt, a Hip Hop Honor on his shelf and
that same warm demeanor, Kamaal is still challenging space and time. In
a conversation with HipHopDX that analyzes the common ground of Queens’
rappers, the evolution of acting and Kanye’s endorsement, Kamaal’s impact
and reflections are anything but abstract.
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