Manwomanboogie - Q-Tip & Amanda Diva
I guess it would make sense to post a video that pertains to the post below this one. Rik Cordero clearly takes a bit from this song, by providing a simple setting to match a beat that sounds so simple. I already talked about the song, so here's the video:
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Q-Tip Had The 2008 AOTY
You know, since I actually had planned updating this thing on a somewhat regular basis, I was going to do a big end-of-the-year music post. So here we are, two months after the start of 2009, and I'm the last blogger on the internets to be putting up an album of the year post. But, it's my damn blog, so I'm going to do whatever the hell I want.
I'll admit, I didn't expect much from Q-Tip's The Renaissance when it was released. It seemed like a huge build up to something that was way too ambitious. It was Q-Tip's first release since the rocky Amplified nine years ago, and a full decade since the last A Tribe Called Quest LP. How could something that people have been waiting for that long possibly live up to the expectations? And he dropped the album on ELECTION DAY!? I'm not sure why I even gave it a listen, I was only going to be disappointed...
And then I actually did give it a spin. And another. And one more time. And once more in the car. In the first bars of Johnny Is Dead, the opening track, Tip blurts out "What good is an ear if a Q-Tip isn't in it?" This would typify the whole album, as the album features no rhymes from anybody other than the legendary Abstract. It does however feature hooks from some of the best voices around, and not a single one sounding out of place. Norah Jones lends her unique voice in Tip's homage to the past in Life Is Better, Raphael Saadiq continues his comeback tour on We Fight / Love, and D'Angelo hops on for the ridiculously soulful Believe towards the end of the album.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that Q-Tip produced eleven of the twelve tracks on the album. He weaves together the tracks to the point where it's actually hard to imagine anybody other than Tip rapping over it. The one track he didn't produce, Move, was produced by the late J Dilla, undoubtedly a tribute to the late great's life. Dilla worked with Tip extensively both with A Tribe Called Quest and on the Abstract's first album.
In looking at other reviews of this album, I've noticed a lot who thought it was either above average or even good, but not among the best. I judge an album's greatness by the amount of times I can listen to it without getting totally sick of it. I'm still listening to The Renaissance, and I can't see myself stopping anytime soon.
Strongest Track: Manwomanboogie feat. Amanda Diva
I'll admit, I didn't expect much from Q-Tip's The Renaissance when it was released. It seemed like a huge build up to something that was way too ambitious. It was Q-Tip's first release since the rocky Amplified nine years ago, and a full decade since the last A Tribe Called Quest LP. How could something that people have been waiting for that long possibly live up to the expectations? And he dropped the album on ELECTION DAY!? I'm not sure why I even gave it a listen, I was only going to be disappointed...
And then I actually did give it a spin. And another. And one more time. And once more in the car. In the first bars of Johnny Is Dead, the opening track, Tip blurts out "What good is an ear if a Q-Tip isn't in it?" This would typify the whole album, as the album features no rhymes from anybody other than the legendary Abstract. It does however feature hooks from some of the best voices around, and not a single one sounding out of place. Norah Jones lends her unique voice in Tip's homage to the past in Life Is Better, Raphael Saadiq continues his comeback tour on We Fight / Love, and D'Angelo hops on for the ridiculously soulful Believe towards the end of the album.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that Q-Tip produced eleven of the twelve tracks on the album. He weaves together the tracks to the point where it's actually hard to imagine anybody other than Tip rapping over it. The one track he didn't produce, Move, was produced by the late J Dilla, undoubtedly a tribute to the late great's life. Dilla worked with Tip extensively both with A Tribe Called Quest and on the Abstract's first album.
In looking at other reviews of this album, I've noticed a lot who thought it was either above average or even good, but not among the best. I judge an album's greatness by the amount of times I can listen to it without getting totally sick of it. I'm still listening to The Renaissance, and I can't see myself stopping anytime soon.
Strongest Track: Manwomanboogie feat. Amanda Diva
- They don't call him the Abstract for nothing. This is a very unique cut, where the beat sounds so simple, but it totally works. Amanda Diva provides a pretty funky hook to bring it together.
- This was the first single for the album, and probably brought the bar down a little bit in my mind. I just didn't view it as all that compelling compared to the rest of the album. Now, don't get me wrong, it's still a nice track, but I had choose something as the weakest.
First Place!
I have three regular season games left in my Ball State managerial career, and it's awful hard to be in a better position than I am now. We played undoubtedly the biggest regular season game I've ever been a part of last night, and we actually freaking won. The team is now 13-13 (my best season as a manager by four wins), and 7-6 in the conference. Now, of course, that's ridiculously unimpressive. However, it's good enough for first place in our division. Not only that, last night's game gave us a one game lead on the division, and a virtual two game lead on second place!
The MAC has been absolutely god awful this season, and especially the MAC West, the division in which we participate. It should be telling that we're the only divisional team with more than nine wins, and we were one of the most impressive West teams in the cross-division match-ups--going 2-4 against the East. But you know what, I don't really care that much. This is the most competitive we've been in my four years, and I'm going to enjoy it.
Ball State also boasts the odds-on favorite for conference freshman player of the year in Jarrod Jones, who is likely to finish one of the most impressive freshman campaigns for a post player since the late 90s. He's among the top five in freshman scoring and top three in freshman rebounding in the Ball State record books, considering Ball State's basketball history, that's some select company. All signs point to him NOT transferring, something that previous freshman stars (our previous starting point Melvin Goins and Marquette's Maurice Acker) can't claim. So the best is clearly still to come.
It's also impressive considering that we lost our best player Anthony Newell, who was probably a favorite for conference player of the year, in the first conference game at Eastern Michigan. He was the leading scorer and rebounder, and among the tops in the league the past two seasons. His career ended just five points short of 1,000. Even with that, we're still in control of our destiny for a division title...
The MAC has been absolutely god awful this season, and especially the MAC West, the division in which we participate. It should be telling that we're the only divisional team with more than nine wins, and we were one of the most impressive West teams in the cross-division match-ups--going 2-4 against the East. But you know what, I don't really care that much. This is the most competitive we've been in my four years, and I'm going to enjoy it.
Ball State also boasts the odds-on favorite for conference freshman player of the year in Jarrod Jones, who is likely to finish one of the most impressive freshman campaigns for a post player since the late 90s. He's among the top five in freshman scoring and top three in freshman rebounding in the Ball State record books, considering Ball State's basketball history, that's some select company. All signs point to him NOT transferring, something that previous freshman stars (our previous starting point Melvin Goins and Marquette's Maurice Acker) can't claim. So the best is clearly still to come.
It's also impressive considering that we lost our best player Anthony Newell, who was probably a favorite for conference player of the year, in the first conference game at Eastern Michigan. He was the leading scorer and rebounder, and among the tops in the league the past two seasons. His career ended just five points short of 1,000. Even with that, we're still in control of our destiny for a division title...
Illmatic: 15 Years Later
The greatest hip hop album ever released is Illmatic. And to me, this is not something that can be argued. It revolutionized the game when it came out, and every album that's been released since has carried at least some influence from the album. Sure, the album is only nine cuts long, but every single song is a classic on some level. There is no filler track on it. Shoot, I've probably already written more on it than is really necessary.
Anyway, one of my favorite hip hop blogs, FWMJ's Rappers I Know, has a story up from the April 2009 XXL in which they go back to 1994 and breakdown the creation of the album by going right to the guys who put it together.
I could write for days about this album, but I'll save that for later.
Anyway, one of my favorite hip hop blogs, FWMJ's Rappers I Know, has a story up from the April 2009 XXL in which they go back to 1994 and breakdown the creation of the album by going right to the guys who put it together.
I could write for days about this album, but I'll save that for later.
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