Q-TIP REFORMS HIP-HOP, ONE PROJECT AT A TIME

Section: Talent

Kim Osorio

As an associate producer of the documentary, The Hip Hop Project, Q-Tip is doing his part to remedy the ills of the hip-hop community. “When I saw this movie, it moved me enough to want to be a part of it,” he tells BET.com in an exclusive interview. “It’s about going into the community, and it’s about [making a] change. That’s what attracted me to the film.”

A hip-hop purist at heart, Q-Tip remembers what it was like as a youth growing up in the hip-hop culture. “We were able to go to the school [back then] and see Melly Mel or Kool Moe Dee, or go to the [Latin] Quarters and see LL, and touch Rakim. They represented who we were. They were not put on a pedestal, and were able to still stick their hand back, whether it be through workshops or roundtables or theoretically through the music,” he says.

But much in hip-hop has changed since then. That’s why, nowadays, Q-Tip’s love of the music that's out there is a little different. When asked about the current criticism that the genre has faced, the Queens-bred MC understands the concerns of some of today’s Black leaders. “I think there is merit to Al Sharpton’s concerns,” he answers. “I think there are certain messages and imagery that’s out there that may not be the best thing for the culture.” Not ignoring the problems of misogyny and violence that seems to be running rampant in the lyrics, Q-Tip suggests, “But I think the approach should be more of a roundtable where artists talk about their grievances…Everyone has to be allotted the opportunity to change.”

With plans to release another album entitled The Renaissance this September, Q-Tip is going left and taking hip-hop in the opposite direction. His focus will be hip-hop in its purest form. He explains, “I’m in a very privileged place because I’m able to do something in the tradition of Rakim or [Afrika] Bambaataa…or James Brown, Sam Cooke or Duke Ellington, artists who have an extensive and rich history. When I look today and I see people are more focused on money, it is a little saddening….[Artists] get so entrenched in that, they lose sight of what they’re doing. The music is not challenging as it once was.”

Q-Tip says his upcoming album, which will be released on Universal Records, will be void of any guest appearances. And not only is he not doing collaborations for it, he is handling the bulk of the album’s production as well. “I think everybody’s album got features. It’s, like, all these other dudes. I wanna just get back to the pure stuff. You don’t really know who the person is anymore.”

And though most rap fans are already familiar with Q-Tip from both his A Tribe Called Quest albums and subsequent solo releases, he’ll have to reintroduce himself to a whole new hip-hop generation. Only, he won’t be doing that just through the music. “I always try to make myself available to go into the community. I think it’s important for the kids to see us right there with them, right where we were once. There’s not enough mentorship to me,” he says of the work he plans on continuing with non-profit and youth organizations.

At a time when some fans are claiming that hip-hop is dead. Q-Tip is holding back his tongue from saying ‘I told you so.’ “Everybody was wylin’ when I said that in an interview a few years ago. Then Andre 3000 said it, and then, [more recently], Nas was sayin’ it,” he reminds us. “The timing is perfect for The Hip Hop Project to be seen on a major level. It really is important during this time we’re going through.”