Remember when people were buzzing about how this ultimately shelved project should have been the proper solo debut for Q-Tip? Well, now it’s finally seeing the light of day on September 15th.
“In 1999, I just came out of putting out the song ‘Vivrant Thing’ and ‘Breathe and Stop’ off the Amplified album. Clive Davis signed me to Arista,” Tip told us last week. “I’m a student of the game. I know what Clive did. He put out an album with Miles Davis called Bitches Brew in the ’70s. It’s considered to be the first fusion album of its kind. I said to Clive, ‘I want to do the hip-hop album that’s kind of like fusion in that way.’ He co-signed it. In 1999, I started putting it together.”
Before Tip could get the LP out, Davis got fired from his post. Tip had the option of going with the legendary mogul to J Records, but his old managers, Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen, convinced him to stay at Arista because L.A. Reid was taking the post.
“He heard it, he dug it,” Tip said of Reid. “We passed it out to press. L.A. was like, ‘I need a single.’ So we went in and started working on a single. I went in, worked on some songs. Played it for him. He kinda didn’t say anything.” Tip said Reid just sat there smoking a cigar trying to gather his thoughts while the new material was being played. Unable to come to an agreement on a single, Tip left the label. He said he feels somewhat vindicated to see that Andre 3000 became successful years later using a similar idea to Kamaal the Abstract with The Love Below.
“To see the success of that, it made me feel like, ‘Damn, I might have been a little too early, but at least I know I wasn’t wrong, because dude did it and rocked with it and it was great.’ ”
The first single from the album is “Barely in Love.” “It’s an uptempo song basically speaking about two people who ain’t got no business falling in love,” Tip said. “The power overtakes you, and you do it anyway. The other [single], ‘Even If It Is So,’ it’s a song about somebody I knew, or know. She was really smart and articulate. She danced. She was a stripper. She had a kid, and she was dating this dude. He was stepping out on her. A little shorty from around my way. I would always talk to her and give her words of encouragement. So I wrote the song about her. I produced both songs. Actually, I produced all the songs on the album.”
Tracklist (so far) under the cut.
» “Feelin’ ”
» “Do U Dig U?” (featuring Gary Thomas and Kurt Rosenwinkel)
» “A Million Times”
» “Blue Girl”
» “Barely in Love”
» “Heels”
» “Abstractionisms” (featuring Kenny Garrett, a.k.a. Truth)
» “Caring”
» “Even If It Is So”
» “Make It Work” (bonus track)
» “Damn You’re Cool” (bonus track)
i ve had a version of this sittin on my hard drive for a minute i downloaded hate to admit i listened once or twice and wasn’t interested who knows if its what the public was meant to hear tho
Cool, cool. Hopefully Tip is a good producer.
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Q-Tip to finally release Kamaal The Abstract!!!! | gakcity.com said this on September 1st, 2009 at 10:08 am
simply a incredible album is already a classic to me, is very creative album anti commercial he got so many influences on this album rock soul hip hip ….
This should have been out. I got it around the time Lucy`s Pearl dropped.”Do U Dig U” is another banger off that album. It was left field,but good all the same. I`m glad it`s going to see the light of day.
@ Brandon, Tip is a great producer. He produced mostly all of the Tribe albums except ” Beats,Rhymes and Life and “The Love Movement”.
Wow, had no idea. Low End Theory has been on rotation today wouldn’t you know it. Expectations have gone up then.
Hate to say it, but this may just be the perfect timing for this album…. a breath of fresh air, from another one of the pioneers. Very edgy and different in the approach with this album but definitely something “out of frame” with regards to what is out there today.
@Brandon,
Don’t expect that early Tribe sound, though. This was made after his house burned down & he lost all his records. It’s all with a live band including some pretty cutting edge jazz guys like Kurt Rosenwinkel & Kenny Garrett. Here’s one of the bonus tracks that wasn’t on the original so I’m thinking it might even be new:
Damn You’re Cool
http://usershare.net/gbci1v8nz21s
I just ran across this the other day on some random blog & was wondering what it was from. Then I saw this post.
hope this is good!
oh damn i can’t wait.
i downloaded the unreleased version
it’s sick
especially do you dig you
it’s kind of like the love below
def gonna buy this
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Q-Tip Speaks on Kamaal The Abstract Becoming a Reality « MIND INVERSION said this on September 2nd, 2009 at 5:47 pm