Rapper Accepts Q's, Doles Out Tips

Q-Tip is one of the most respected and innovative artists in hip-hop history. Along with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Phife, Q-Tip was one of the founding members of the seminal rap group A Tribe Called Quest in the late ’80s. In five albums with the group, he laid down clever, laid-back rhymes over jazz samples. His new solo album, The Renaissance, comes out Dec. 18. Spectator talked with Q-Tip before his electrifying CMJ set at the Blender Theatre last Tuesday.

Spec: Most rappers tend to release the bulk of their work in their 20s. You, however, are still releasing music at age 37. How do you respond to the notion that rap is a young man’s game?

Q-Tip: Look, good music is good music. I think a lot of times the record companies and the press tend to marginalize artists and place them in a box, you know, give the music certain characteristics that it just doesn’t possess. I mean, rap was always youthful. You can look at the earliest singles coming out of the South Bronx and see that. But when you look at songs like “The Message,” “It’s Like That,” “White Lines,” you also see an introspection and a maturity that’s always been there. And age really has nothing to do with it.

Spec: The earliest Tribe albums came out in what is often referred to as hip-hop’s Golden Age. As someone who was a part of that, what’s your opinion on its current state?

Q-Tip: Well, I think music tends to go through highs and lows, you know, sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better. And I would say that we’re in a low point right now. Too many artists are being pushed by music companies to make ringtone records. And it’s a real shitty way to judge music by whether or not 15,000 people in Tupelo, Miss. want to hear you on their phone.

Spec: The Internet has undeniably affected the music industry in the last five years, both in the accessibility of unknown artists and the ease through which actual songs can be obtained. Do you see this as a good or a bad thing?

Q-Tip: I think it’s great that people who might not have otherwise had a shot to get their music heard can do that now. But at the same time, it can bring down the quality of what’s out there. I mean, you look at the people who were putting out stuff when our first albums hit. You know, Nirvana, Public Enemy, that’s a very high bar to live up to. If you wanted to get known, you had to go out and try and be better than that. And I don’t know if that bar exists anymore. I would be very hard pressed to name five artists today with that sort of depth. The Internet’s a good alternative, but it still comes down to the music.

Spec: Several members of the hip-hop community have recently spoken out in favor of the censoring of words like “nigga,” “bitch,” and “ho,” from hip-hop songs. As someone who writes intelligent, socially conscious songs that sometimes use these words, what is your feeling on their being censored?

Q-Tip: I think it depends on the artistic credence involved. Nigger is a dirty word. It’s a dirty word. I don’t like it, but I say it. But I’m also a product of a culture that says it. I’ve gone through stretches where I say it, and stretches where I don’t. But it can have an artistic dimension. We just have to work to eliminate it when it’s being used in a gratuitous and nonsensical way.