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

• 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.

Weakest Track: Gettin' Up

• 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.
  

Random Album Spotlight

Most people have never heard of Daniel Swain, but in 2006, his independently pressed and released album made the short list for SEVEN Grammy nominations. So much so that he was invited to the show despite not really selling anything. Anyway, I don't really know how I'll break these down, I guess I'll talk about the artist, then maybe the actual album... Sound good? Well, not that your opinion matters, I'll do it this way anyway.

Swain's stage name is Danny!, yes that's with the exclamation point. Presumably, that's so you can sound extra excited every time you say it. Or at least that's my theory on it. Dude is a 25 or 26 year old from Coumbia in South Carolina, and after being accused of a massive grade-changing scandal, dude was expelled from Claflin University in2003 just prior to completing his first album.

His style borrows heavily from the style of the RZA, which includes sampling and voice altering on a lot of songs. In 2004, an artist by the name of Kanye West (you may have heard of him), put out The College Dropout, which also uses a similar production style. Having completed his first album finally, and noticing the similarities between himself and Kanye stylistically, Danny! jokingly titles his album The College Kicked Out. The album was universally panned as someone trying to copy Kanye. It's a criticism that Danny! continues to address on just about every album he's put out.

However, I think the criticism is misplaced. They have similar production styles, and some people might contend that the flow and lyrical content are similar. The major difference is that Kanye takes himself and his profession almost too seriously. I think Danny! carries an almost De La Soul-esque nack for having fun. He adopts a very satirical and usually self-deprecating persona on his tracks.

So I guess we can talk about the much-acclaimed album now. Charm is a play on the fact that it is the third album release. When Danny! released it, he had just been accepted to the Savannah College of Art and Design, something that may have caused him to call it his final release for months following its completion. Ultimately, it ended up in the hands of some big names in the just-out-of-the-mainstream hip hop websites like RapReviews and Okayplayer. After positive reviews, it appears to have really refueled the South Carolinian's career.

In many ways, Charm is supposed to be a concept album about the rise-and-fall of a rapper. He starts as an aspiring independent artist, to getting worldwide acclaim, to falling back to his humble beginnings, VHI Behind The Music style. The album really boosts some pretty incredible production for an independently released album.

There are some lowlights though. The songs Move Somethin' (with a very lackluster feature by some dude named G Test) and Strange Fruit seem pretty out-of place. I think the album could definitely stand to be a little shorter. It runs damn near 80 minutes long, and towards the end, a listener can get exhausted. However, those are relatively minor compared the the vast amount of highlights on the album.

I refuse to give some arbitrary rating to an album. I think it's a waste because people's interest in an album is very subjective. I'll just say this, any album I give the spotlight to is an album that I personally hold in high regard. So that's to say, if I'm featuring it, you should probably at least give it a spin or two.

This guy's career is really starting to take off though. Since the 2006 Grammys, he's been featured in just about every rap magazine (even if it's only a small blurb), he's hosted shows on Sirius Radio, and even guest hosted a show on MTVu last year. In addition to that, he won an independent music contest sponsored by MTVu and Definitive Jux records. That eventually led to some sort of record deal, but he's yet to release anything under that imprint. Last year he dropped an iTunes-only EP titled Danny is Dead...? and this year he put out And I Love H.E.R.: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (which is another album I definitely recommend).