It’s called Beats, Rhymes And Fights, and we’ve got a fresh trailer, without the audio synch issues found on the version making the rounds today.

From what we have seen and heard so far, the film has at least the potential to be Hip Hop’s answer to Some Kind Of Monster or Refused Are Fucking Dead, confronting, head-on, the mysterious volatile feud between Phife Dawg and Q-Tip. It takes us right into the group’s inner sanctums, in the midsts of explosive arguments as well as intimate revelations.

It also features live performances and guest commentaries from the likes of Mos Def, Kanye West, Questlove, Large Professor, Nas (who co-produced the film), and many more.

Back in 2008, Questlove had the following to say on the okayplayer message boards, presumably after his interview was filmed:

he wants to call it beats rhymes and fights.
i mean he got to the nitty gritty of tribe.
all the bickering.
he interviewed afrika which ruffled some feathers
he went to various treatments and operations with phife
he got to the bottom of “the jazz” controversy with pete
i chimed my two cents about the beats rhymes dilla issues.
i really think this can be something incredible.

No word yet on when or how the documentary will be released. But we’ll keep you posted. Oh, and this aficionado director behind it all is Michael Rappaport. Don’t worry about it.

UPDATE: It’s called Beats, Rhymes & Life. Not Beats, Rhymes & Fights. It opens in NY & LA July 8, 2011. Screenings listed here.

For anyone who was a kid in America throughout the first half of the ’90s, Rock The Bells 2010 is a musical time machine dream come true. The nostalgia trip was just the tip of the iceberg, however, as performances from Slick Rick, KRS-One, Rakim and other Hip-Hop veterans were countered & complemented with a bill that found the unfathomably fantastic Brother Ali spitting inimitable rhymes alongside spitfire activist Immortal Technique, Jedi Mind Tricks, Murs & 9th Wonder and many more as this year’s Rock The Bells tour kicked off in top form.

That’s a staggering collection of talent on one bill, but still doesn’t mention another top highlight – an appearance from miss Lauryn Hill, who made a return to the stage backed by an 11-piece band. Ripping through cuts on her debut (and only) solo CD, Lauryn touched on accelerated & reinterpreted versions of Lost Ones, To Zion and Doo Wop (That Thing) alongside Fugees jams that set the crowd ablaze.

In all honesty, Hill’s appearance left much to be desired. While she seemed to genuinely enjoy herself, the soulful prowess we adored and eagerly anticipated was replaced with rushed deliveries and strut-rap that showcased only glimpses of the talent that’s put her in league with the genre’s all-time heavyweights.

Nevertheless, her set was a wildly celebrated return amongst the hardcore devoted who braved 100-plus temperatures to experience the history being brought to life on the main stage that day.

Earlier in the day, the legendary Rakim unleashed his classic Paid in Full album to the sweating hordes, who were just beginning to arrive as the sun hit its highest point in the desert sky. After a menacing set from Jedi Mind Tricks, Rhymesayers’ de facto godfather Brother Ali utterly obliterated any notion that he deserved his relegation to the Paid Dues stage with a set that bordered on messianic.

Preaching a message of love and compassion, Ali delivered a set that spanned his entire career, peaking with an intensely moving take on the torn-life anthem Tightrope, off last year’s excellent Us album.

He then brought out DJ Snuggles, a 22year old scratcher who can beatbox like nobody’s business. Using only Snuggles as an instrument base, Ali ripped through a freestyle before the unknown DJ pulled some Iron Man vocal shit that blew everyone’s mind.

Shortly after, Supernatural brought the one and only KRS-One to the main stage for a spirited run through 1987’s Criminal Minded album – which sadly fell largely on the circumstantially deaf ears of an audience of which most were born after the record’s release. Nevertheless, for the enlightened it was a spirited affair of pioneering Hip-Hop. After all, who before KRS was dropping rhymes about sex, guns and hardcore beatdowns, let alone kicking transcendental wisdom through lyricism?

Street Sweeper Social Club proved to be the odd men out as the only rock act on the bill, and the crowd of less than a hundred reflected the collective interest in what was going on at the other side of the NOS Events Center (Lauryn Hill). Nevertheless, they attacked their set with full-throttled enthusiasm and steadily built on the increasingly excited crowd reaction, and ended up pulling in roughly three times the crowd they started with.

A Tribe Called Quest brought the Midnight Marauders power in full force as Q-Tip and Phife Dawg laid extra fire to the verses and brought out a few surprises. One of the original members, Jarobi, came out for Can I Kick It?, and Busta Rhymes (accompanied by Spliff Star) made an appearance with the timeless Stop the Party. Rhymes, Spliff and Jarobi stayed onstage for the last two numbers, Check the Rhyme and Award Tour.

Sure, it would’ve been nice to have maybe witnessed Low End Theory rather than Marauders, but we’ll take what we can get.

Ultimate Hip-Hop supergroup Wu-Tang Clan descended as night fell with a full-throttle presentation of their classic 36 Chambers album. Each performer taking solo turns on their respective verses, all members interacted with buoyant enthusiasm and even gave a touching tribute to former member Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who died in November 2004 from a drug overdose. Leading the tribute was O.D.B’s firstborn son Boy Jones, who’s improved heavily in recent years and held his own amongst his mentors. With a hairstyle and flow to match his father’s, Jones inhabited his father’s lyrics and helped fill the large void left by his absolutely batshit tasmanian devil of a father.

And then it was time for Doggystyle. Snoop Dogg’s headlining set was the cherry on top of a legendary event featuring unprecedented full-album performances, and there wasn’t a soul in attendance who didn’t appear to know every single word of every track on the record.

Sporting a vintage Pittsburgh Penguins jersey, braids & shades, Snoop returned to the fire & menace that he’s long since traded for blazed, leisurely pimpdom. Aided by performances from Tha Dogg Pound, the Lady of Rage, Kuript and Warren G, Snoop stepped back into his youthful persona for a time-machine recount of a cornerstone album from the ’90s. Even the elusive Dr. Dre had taped a pre-recorded video, instructing Snoop to “play that old school shit” while Snoop paid tribute to the incapacitated Nate Dogg with Regulate and Ain’t No Fun (if the Homies Can’t Have None).

Hip hop’s golden era has been revived, and if you’ve got true love for the artists and albums that kicked off the most prominent generation of music Hip-Hop has ever seen, you should do yourself a favor and make it to New York or D.C. for the August 28th and 29th shows, respectively. This bill with these albums is guaranteed to never, ever happen again.

Find out more at RockTheBells.com.

On paper, it can’t fail. The Black Keys consistently deliver the sort of songs that freeze time and frame it. Take any sentimental moment from your life, set it to a Black Keys song, and you can take it to Sundance. Put that kind of songwriting behind Q-Tip, Mos Def, RZA, Raekwon and Jim Jones, and you should at least get one of the most creative rap albums to come along in awhile… If not one of the most creative in any genre.

Sounds like we’re setting you up for a big “However…” doesn’t it? Well… It’s not a bad album at all. It’s just not quite the instant classic it “should” have been. The best track is the one that we posted three months back, Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo), featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. It’s an effective- nearly perfect- blend of the two dimensions of cool at play, and the first tease encouraged the expectations our imaginations were dreaming up, perhaps more than it should have.

Opening track Coochie, featuring Ludacris and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, sounds more like a Ludacris track produced by The Black Keys than two creative hemispheres coming together to form a whole. Patrick Carney plays a two-note beat while Dan Auerbach plays a simple lead riff like it’s a loop in a sampler plugged into his pedalboard. Ludacris has his moments, but the track doesn’t come close to living up to its potential.

The same complaint could possibly be filed for Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers featuring Raekwon, as well as for Telling Me Things featuring RZA, though the white guys step it up a notch more in both of those cases, and they’re that much more balanced. Not that we’re playing favorites, or can’t handle too much of either side, it’s just that the midpoint between the two is a great place to be.

On the upside, while nothing trumps Ain’t Nothing Like You, several cuts do come close. Dollaz & Sense featuring verses by Pharoahe Monch & RZA and a chorus by Auerbach, comes off as a cohesive work of collaboration between talents, for example.

Rapper NOE is a surprise MVP, a (genetically healthy) cross between Jay-Z and The Game. NOE carries two outstanding tracks, album closer Done Did It (with Wray), and Hard Times:

Missy Eliot protégé Nicole Wray contributes R&B vocals to several tracks, adding a layer of depth that at worst is a welcome contrast, and at best recalls early Massive Attack, such as on Why Can’t I Forget Him, which she handles unassisted.

Hope You’re Happy is a more crowded elevator. Nicole and Q-Tip lead, doing the Michael Jackson / Paul McCartney singing squabble. Her refrains have heart, while his delivery compliments the climbing blues scale well. And then Billy Danze of M.O.P. comes in… and it’s kinda like if Sticky Fingaz jumped in with a verse on The Girl Is Mine. There’s a time and a place that calls for that kind of in-your-face delivery, but it just doesn’t really work here.

The bottom line is that unfortunately, Blakroc is a bit of a disappointment. But that’s not a very harsh criticism when nothing short of a classic was expected. If it’s only the sum of such high-grade parts, it will still manage to go down as a collectable commodity, and a handy source of eyebrow-raising mixtape fodder.

We got our hands on a cut today via New York Magazine, featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones:

They identified the track as Hoochie Choo, which we’re assuming is the first track of the forthcoming album, the following tracklist for which was published by NME:

1. Coochie
2. On The Vista
3. Hard Times
4. Dollaz & Sense
5. Why Can’t I Forget Him
6. Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers
7. Ain’t Nothing Like You
8. Hope You’re Happy
9. Tellin’ Me Things
10. What You Do To Me
11. Done Did It

The Blakroc album is reportedly slated for a late November release.

P.S. There’s more info and some videos up at Blakroc.com. Thanks to trucks for the heads up!

The atmosphere in Golden Gate Park was a considerable leap from last year’s bottlenecked bout of frustration, despite massive attendance (40,000+) and tales of fence-hoppings galore. With perfect weather, easy parking, mellow crowds (no, that’s not skunk spray in the air) and triumphant rock sets from bands spanning the spectrum of exposure and genres, all was right on Day One at Outside Lands.

With most of the popular indie hipster acts (Autolux, The  Duke Spirit, etc) playing early in the day, fans delved into worthy unfamiliars such as Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, who by all accounts rocked the hell out of their ever-growing crowd with an enthusiastic horn section and a Otis Redding/dirty soul vibe.

Speaking of vibes, Madd Vibe Orchestra wowed those tuning in with a burlesque-circus-rock stage show, as Los Campensinos! delivered their own brand of goods after apologizing to the audience for playing in the same time slot as Built To Spill, who were onstage across the park.

Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, rocking a full beard, tore out an unforgettable solo on The Plan midway through the band’s poptastic set that received callouts from just about every major act in the day, including Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert (who twice referred to them as “one of the best fucking bands ever”) and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who thanked them by name. Unfortunately, the set just wasn’t loud enough, a detail that comes as a surprise with three guitarists in the batch and a bit of a reputation for being noisemakers in concert. Nevertheless, tracks like Car, You Were Right and Big Dipper still made their desired impact on the devoted crowd.

Meanwhile, Portugal. The Man, who were kind enough to sit for a band shot for us, will undoubtedly win over more new fans than any other act on the bill with their sonic jungle of experimental rock tomorrow. We’re excited to see these guys gaining ground, as we’ve been screaming their praises for a year and two albums.

Backed by a five-piece band and DJ, Q-Tip trotted out the hits, opening with a few tracks off last year’s album The Renaissance before delivering the Tribe Called Quest classics like Check The Rhime and Bonita Applebum, among others. For the finale, Phife Dawg, Tip’s partner in rhyme in ATCQ, took to the stage for a searing rendition of Award Tour. The rare moment wasn’t lost on Q-Tip, who declared before leaving the stage: “I don’t know if you’ll ever see that again.”

Tom Jones made his own solid run at stealing the show with an hourlong set of hits that included What’s New Pussycat, She’s A Lady and, of course, It’s Not Unusual. And yes, the panties were flying. He closed with a cover of Prince’s Kiss, which was considerably more inspired than the other Prince cover fans witnessed last night: Incubus’ take on Let’s Go Crazy.

By several accounts, Incubus‘ set was less than inspiring – but one look at the setlist could’ve given that little secret away. It appeared as if the band couldn’t decide whether to go all-in for the chick-rock jams (they actually play Love Hurts live? That takes balls, man) or all out rockers (Circles, Megalomaniac), opting to ride a bland middleground in the end. They’ve written a good amount of relatively great music over the years, but if this is what amounts to an Incubus setlist these days, count me out.

Incubus setlist:

Pardon Me, Nice To Know You, Anna-Molly, Stellar, Megalomaniac, Circles, Love Hurts, Under My Umbrella, Are You In?, Oil & Water, Quicksand, Kiss To Send Us Off, Wish You Were Here, Let’s Go Crazy

What seemed to be the entire crowd of 40,000 strong crammed to the Land’s End stage for Day 1 headliners Pearl Jam, who are about to unleash their ninth studio album Backspacer, tore out a two-hour set full of hits, wrapping up the first leg of the band’s US tour with the show. The band’s rigorous touring schedule had taken an audible toll on singer Eddie Vedder’s voice, but if the deafening crowd singalongs were any indication, the energy in the air was far from entirely reliant upon the flannel-clad frontman. Mike McCready’s no-look, over-the-head solo during old crowd favorite Even Flow left the uninitiated stunned, while those who knew what to expect (the first 20 rows of heads or so) were still on overjoy mode as the band pulled out some infrequent gems (Low Light, Pete Townshend’s The Real Me) and finished with two blasting Neil Young covers: Throw Your Hatred Down and the longtime PJ live staple Rockin’ In The Free World. If you’ve seen them perform it, you understand why the ground was shaking up front.

Pearl Jam setlist:

Why Go, Animal, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Low Light, The Fixer, In My Tree, Small Town, Even Flow, Got Some, I Am Mine, Given To Fly, MFC, Down, Black, Save You, Do The Evolution, Go

1st encore: Wasted Reprise, Better Man, Daughter, The Real Me (Pete Townshend), Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams), Alive

2nd encore: Throw Your Hatred Down (Neil Young), Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young)

Antiquiet’s complete coverage of Outside Lands can be found here. All of our pictures from the festival can be found on our Facebook Page.

All Photos: Alicia Roldán & Rick Pickett for Antiquiet

As a shorthand way of doing that, I’ve put together a little mixtape of my favorite tracks lately; some are old, some are new, some are entirely uncalled for. But they all kick ass.

We’ve covered the low end of the spectrum, so it only seems fair to bestow you with the gifts of our aural pleasures. Can’t have one without the other, now can we? That would defeat our entire purpose, which is to call bullshit, right wrongs, be a beaming lighthouse in a fog of repugnant hackery and crap- but most of all, to inspire. To help point out the diamonds in the coal.

1. Puscifer: The Mission

I largely dismissed Puscifer after hearing a few songs sometime last year, but Maynard’s not totally wasting his time on this little project. This is the latest single, and it features Milla Jovovich (yeah, the chick from The Fifth Element and Resident Evil) on split vocal duty. Dark, minimalist, slithery and oozing sex- that’s Puscifer. If you dig this track, check out Momma Sed. Good jam.

2. 8mm: No Way Back

This is the song that hooked me on Juliette and Sean Beavan, better known to the world as 8mm. Hypnotic trip-hop slow jams dripping with sensuality is the name of their game, as Juliette’s silky, breathless vocals glide above the dark wave of Sean’s post-industrial instrumental backdrop; their target audience could probably be found where Massive Attack and Tricky intersect- and that’s a damn good place to find yourself.

If you haven’t seen the details yet, 8mm is headlining our Valentine’s party on Feb 7th (if you’re free and in or around LA on the 7th, head on down, we wanna meet you, feed you, get you drunk and rock you out).

3. Kings Of Leon: Crawl

We’re not above admitting our mistakes here, and I’ve gotta cop to feeling more than a twinge of regret when I look at our Best Albums of 2008 lists and don’t see Kings Of Leon there. Only By The Night is one of the most consistently solid albums to come out in recent memory, and it’s a big step up for the brothers Followill, who seem to have found a clear direction in their sound. It’s a fantastic record, and it probably should have been as high as #2 on the list. Live and learn, I suppose.

4. Pop Levi: Dita Dimoné

Pop Levi is one of the most fascinating live acts I’ve seen, because he indisputably marches to his own beat, mixing rock with electro-synth weirdness in an irresistibly refreshing way. His uncanny ability to inject fun pop sensibility into avant-garde jams from another dimension is precisely why we’re thrilled that he’s on the bill for our first show (again, Feb 7th, come on down).

5. Jack Conte: The Greatest Hoax

Jack Conte never ceases to amaze me with his versatility, hyperactive creativity and overall genuine humanity. While most artists typically revel in the hyperbolic affections of fans, Conte seems genuinely concerned with making a true connection, touching spirits while pulling you upwards with an Incubus-meets-Radiohead-in-the-future kind of sound. This is my favorite track off his new Sleep In Color EP, which you should definitely check out.

Fight Like Apes: Do You Karate?

I don’t know as much as I’d like to about these guys beyond that they’re from Dublin, and I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of singer Maykay’s bad days. But the energy is high, the melody shines and the frantic delivery and melodic gravity leave me trying to decide whether I’ve got a crush on the girl or I’m afraid of her. Those are the worst kind.

7. Busta Rhymes: Don’t Touch Me (Remix w/ Nas, Lil’ Wayne, Big Daddy Kane, The Game and a bunch of other fuckers)

This track single-handedly re-sparked my love for Busta- There’s about 35 guest vocalists, but it’s neck-snappingly relentless, like running up a mountain on an 8-ball of speed. A favorite around here, for sure.

8. Ludacris: One More Drink (w/ T-Pain)

Never in hell did I think T-Pain would ever, ever be a presence on this site, but I was too high on some kind of Hollywood sunshine vibe the other day to notice what was going on with the radio in the car, or the fact that I was rockin’ the hell out to a Ludacris song. Ever since Indie 103.1fm in Los Angeles went to Taco Town, radio listening has been about as fulfilling as a liquid-fiberglass enema. I already said my piece on that particular topic, but essentially shit is all fucked up on the radio in LA these days, and I’ve found myself listening to some weird sounds lately as a result. But really, I may have hit my head somewhere, cause this song is kicking my ass tonight.

9. Electric Six: Take Me To Your Leader

I think I’ve already made my case for the splintery ball of awesome that is Electric Six. This track’s about as deep as you can get in the E6 catalogue- it’s a demo from the days when they were known as Wildbunch. Love it. Fear it.

10. Fleet Foxes: Mykonos

Sure, the first 30 seconds or so will most likely have you wondering what the hell kind of Celtic folk song this is, but the CSNY changeup around two and a half minutes in is the kind of high-powered, beautiful soul-folk harmony we haven’t seen in more than 30 years. And it’s fucking fantastic. Give ‘em a shot.

11. Crowded House: Weather With You

Another house favorite here at Antiquiet. If your parents had good taste in music in the ’80s (a goddamn musical minefield if there ever was one), chances are you’re familiar with a couple songs by Neil Finn and Co. This song- about the impact a person’s attitude can have on the people and area around them- actually hit in 1991, but I didn’t discover it until many years later- having been distracted by a bunch of flannel-wearing long-haired hippies at the time. But it’s a true classic, something I’d love to cover someday.

Side Note: Neil’s kid, Liam Finn, has developed into quite the musician himself. He opened Eddie Vedder’s solo tours last year, and puts on a hell of a live show. Check him out if you get a chance.

12. Kanye West: Streetlights

This understated big-beat ballad is a leap forward into prog-pop, with building percussion, female backups and a pulsing central melody featuring some of Kanye’s most refreshingly humbled lyrics to date. Fuck what you heard- 808s And Heartbreak is a damn good record.

13. Mark Ronson: Tomorrow (w/ Debi Nova & Q-Tip)

I’m always concerned that the last song of a mix will be a weak exit or uninteresting. I’ve got nothing to worry about with this one. It’s a track off the Here Comes The Fuzz compilation. Debi Nova’s glorious, Q-Tip is butter as ever, and Mark Ronson works his white-boy-genius magic all up in these guts. Rock it loud and proud. Thanks for listening.

Brereton is a Trinidad-born, Toronto-bred rapper/singer/songwriter with a panache for introspective, philosophical lyricism and genre-bending neo-soul hip-hop jams. And yes, that’s a lot of fucking hyphens. The alias K-Os (pronounced “chaos”) is an acronym for “Knowledge Of Self” or “Kheaven’s Original Sound,” depending on who you ask. Both are equally pretentious, but carry the weight of a personality that doesn’t compromise soul for success- and that’s why he’s got a fixed position on our radar.

Since his fantastic debut album Exit in 2002, I’d been on board with K-Os’ fringe approach to hip-hop. His outright rejection and vocal criticism of rap’s Holy Trinity of themes- bitches, bling and bullets- set him apart immediately, but it was his smooth, unique flow and syncopation that truly made an impression. It’s clear right off that he’d much rather be an artist in an evolving cultural and artistic movement- along the lines of The Roots or Crown City Rockers- than one who’s gonna churn out some more club-mix bullshit while hawking vitamin water.

Exit got things off to a running start for Brereton, proving his skill set as a producer, singer and rapper while earning him the International Album of the Year award at the 2003 Source Awards, as well as a Grammy nomination and three Juno Awards (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys). His follow-up, Joyful Rebellion, wasn’t as consistent, and took heat for being a little too preachy about the degenerate state of hip-hop (despite being completely on point). Nevertheless, it was a sign that Brereton had improved upon both his style and delivery, and the album went platinum in Canada. His third, Atlantis: Hymns For Disco, was released in 2007, and while it still possessed the fire of his first two albums, there was a lessened focus on stylized flow than on commercial viability, which undoubtedly turned off many fans (myself included).

Where Atlantis was all over the map with an amalgam of influence such as reggae, ’60s pop, acoustic guitar and even disco, Yes! heads down a more organic, breakbeat-heavy lane, getting back into his signature flow and pulling some strings, tablas and keyboards along the way. Where he got lost in the sheer depth of variety at times on his previous outings, the pendulum swings back to Brereton’s hip-hop side on Yes!, and his rhymes possess a new, commanding presence this time around.

Like a hippie mix of Wyclef and Mos Def, K-Os’ production skills and artistic versatility have served him well. His lyrics are powerful and from the heart- a positive, conscientious influence for the hip-hop idol seekers out there.

Mr. Telephone Man is a great intro, a snap-snare beat over telephone blips and a mid-tempo flow reminiscent of Q-Tip. The Avenue, meanwhile, opens like one of the better N.E.R.D. tracks, giving way to a cymbal-riding live percussion jam, with bursts of electric guitar in the under Brereton’s soulful flow. His lack of concern with cool, focusing more on finding the right colors for his canvas, is beyond refreshing- his starting point is much more likely to be Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson than anyone who’s ever been affiliated with G-Unit or Roc-A-Fella. He’s clearly not the kind of rapper that listens to modern music with a competitive ear. 

The Aviator showcases everything I like about the man’s unique style- the immediate gravity of atmosphere and spaceship-liftoff intro, the dramatic gravity of the guitar mixed with the psychedelic pulse of the bassline, the live drums, the introspective, understated flow that rises to a soulful chorus without ever drowning out the atmospherics of the instrumentation:

The track goes out in a digital haze, giving way to an absolutely bizarre reworking of the main riff from Nirvana’s Love Buzz for Uptown Girl. He loses his way here, between talking about snotty rich girls and a pretty ridiculous chorus (“I’m not from the ghetto, but my Momma is, and she’s an uptown girl”)- it sounds to me like something Andy Samberg would do in a Digital Short. Things aren’t looking much better for first single 4 3 2 1, featuring one of the more annoying sound effects I’ve heard in years.

Those are the only real low points, however, on a record that builds well off of Brereton’s existing material. Astronaut is a mile-a-minute narrative of what appears to be a ladykiller spaceman, and he spits a scattered, buttery flow over a hymnal chorus, a chopping beat and nylon strings on the excellent Zambony. The man’s got his own vision, that’s for sure, and with each release he shares a bigger piece of it with us. 

The album is due to drop in March as a double disc, the second being a remix album featuring tracks mixed by producers who entered a contest through Indaba Music. Master “stems” from eleven tracks off the album have been made available to Indaba’s community of 100,000 musicians to remix and fuck with to their hearts’ delight. On February 3rd submissions will close and K-Os will select his favorite mixes from each track’s submissions to win both $1,000 and a spot on Universal’s companion release.

Is Yes! the best hip-hop album of 2009? Sure, so far- but we’re only 21 days in. This isn’t going to be Brereton’s big breakthrough album, but while it may not take the world by storm, it’s a burst of organic, lush neo-soul hip-hop and a confident step forward for the man.

Yes!
March, 2009
Virgin

Tracklist not yet confirmed.

Another one is the new album from Q-Tip. The founding member of Tribe Called Quest put out Amplified in 1999 after Tribe split up. There were a bunch of great tracks on it, it went gold, everything was cool. Then in 2002 I got word that his second album, Kamaal The Abstract, had been rejected by the label. By the time 2004 rolled around, Q-Tip was a ghost.

I eventually got my hands on a burned copy of Kamaal The Abstract, but it felt like a collection of demos… Maybe that’s all it ever was. Two more rough “albums” would appear in the years to follow: Open, and Live At The Renaissance. Before this week, I had resigned myself of any and all expectations.

Then suddenly, a new Q-Tip album hit the internet. A real album. One that has now been set for a real, physical November 4th release. The name has been shortened to The Renaissance, and It’s finally the album I’ve been waiting for.

If my admittedly limited recollection of the heap of leaked demos serves me, only two tracks from The Renaissance have appeared previously; Johnny Is Dead, and Official. But both benefit greatly from fresh production and proper mastering. The second track, Won’t Trade, is up there with some of the best Tribe shit, and it might be the best new hip hop song I’ve heard since Busta’s Don’t Touch Me:

For the most part, the guest vocalists on this disc are well chosen, though occasionally underutilized. With a stock beat and par verses from Tip, Manwomanboogie is almost forgettable… until Amanda Diva of Floetry busts her verse. Norah Jones is a natural fit on Life Is Better, a chill R&B track that reminds me of something from Philly’s Res. And that’s a compliment, as I eagerly await her promised collaboration with Talib Kweli.

Overall, Renaissance is not a masterpiece. It’s not Low End Theory; It’s not the second coming of Tribe. And despite a the marketing campaign built around the election day “day of change” release date, the album is not political nor a radical change of direction for Q-Tip. It is however, as good as Amplified.

The only question is if 2008 is too late for another Amplified. Time will tell, but either way, it’s nice to finally see Q-Tip back in action.

The Renaissance
November 4th, 2008
Universal Motown

1. Johnny Is Dead
2. Won’t Trade
3. Gettin’ Up
4. Official
5. You
6. We Fight / Love (w/ Raphael Saadiq)
7. Manwomanboogie (w/ Amanda Diva)
8. Move
9. Dance On Glass
10. Life Is Better (w/ Norah Jones)
11. Believe (w/ D’Angelo)
12. Shaka