For several months now, news has been leaking out about the possible reunion of A Tribe Called Quest as Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad came together three months ago to record the song "(ICU) Doin' It," for the upcoming Violator Records compilation, V3: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with talk of more sessions to come. But overshadowed in that chatter is the music Q-Tip has been working on for his own solo album, Open, which he recently completed for a March 2004 release.
MTV News confirmed that Q-Tip recorded the album over the past three months, writing raps and music performed by a band he assembled.
After Tribe called it quits in 1998, Q-Tip released Amplified. The Hype Williams-directed video for its first single, "Vivrant Thing," was more akin to the flash of Puffy and Jay-Z than the bohemian styles of Tribe, and some of his old fans were quick to label him a sell-out.
Q-Tip says Open is more of an "evolution" and it will, like his other records, surprise people. "In hip-hop and urban music, you're not allowed to change and grow and explore. You're only supposed to be one way and if there are spurts of growth, it's supposed to move at a tortoise's pace. When you look at people like Miles Davis, he had the same criticism. But when you look at someone like David Bowie, he can go from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke in a matter of a year."
Q-Tip, though, is still one of the most revered icons of hip-hop's golden era, with everyone from Andre 3000 to Pharrell Williams citing him and Tribe as a defining influence on their own musical styles
Tip says A Tribe Called Quest's break-up after releasing The Love Movement had more to do with Jive Records than the group itself. "It wasn't really internal. They were jerking us and they were putting strains on our relationships," he revealed.
The group got together over the summer out of a curiosity to hear what they would sound like again. They were happy enough with the results to begin conversations about working on more new material though nothing else has been recorded as of yet. "People will be surprised when it comes out," he said.
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