Q-Tip

With his solo debut, former Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip has the big task of living up to
his ex-group's peaks (1991's The Low End Theory, 1993's Midnight Marauders) and making
up for the deficits of Tribe's later offerings (1996's Beats, Rhymes and Life, 1998's The Love
Movement). Wisely, Tip ducks the issue: The usual suspects - De La Soul, Common, Mos Def
et al. - are nowhere to be found on Amplified, with the exception of Busta Rhym... More >

Q-Tip's agenda is the hundred or so electrobeats that pulse identically for the first 20 seconds of the lead "Wait Up," before he opens his mouth to announce a "brand new page." Thus does the man who made Ron Carter the embodiment of hip hop humanism assert his solo personality, and let the Quest fans who'll never forgive him catch arthritis and die. He gets stronger music out of hard beats than he ever did out of soft jazz, and those surprised by how much he likes sex are in denial. He's his own man, and vivrant for it. (Grade: A)