And Introduce to You All a New Sound to Pound

I never understand why record companies shelve album. I cannot cost that much to press CD’s and transport them to stores (certainly nowhere near the $18 retail price) and now it costs basically nothing to upload to iTunes and the like. But we have to wait eight years to (legally) hear the lost Q-Tip album, Kamaal the Abstract because his A&R man said, “I don’t hear a single.” So into the great wide open of the ether the album went until Q-Tip finally regained control of the rights to finally put out.

So now it gets its proper release so the obvious question is: Is it worth the wait? Well, yes and no. Had the album been released in 2002, it would have been a revolution with Tip bridging the gap between rap and jazz more than A Tribe Called Quest ever did thanks to the live jazz band backing him up while Q-Tip goes back and forth between rapping and singing. Now after Andre 3000, Kanye West and upstart Kid Cudi have all mixed the singing and rapping to mixed results it almost sound like another album if it weren’t for the jazz aspect to it whereas other backing music of choice ranges from emo (West) to electro (Cudi) to everything in-between (3000).

And as adventurous Tip was to branch out with a live jazz backing band, the actual jazz being played really isn’t that adventurous itself and is more of a Jazz for Beginners starter kit for those not familiar with the genre or consider Norah Jones part of the moment. And that is not on Q-Tip who has no problem stepping back from the mike on multiple songs to let the musicians jam a little. But it is decent as a starter kit for jazz version who find jumping straight into Miles Davis or John Coltrane too daunting.

Song to Download - Barely in Love

Kamaal the Abstract gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.