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Interview Podcast Audio Q-Tip
Work It Out

Brolin: Q-Tip. Q-Tip: How are you? Good, man. How you doing? I'm good. That's what I like to hear. So you've got a new album coming out, a long-awaited album. Yes, I do. What can you tell us about it, man? I've heard the "Work It Out" song, which is dope, but that's all I've heard off of it. What's going on with it? It's called The Renaissance. It'll be out December 18th. We've got 12 joints on there and I'm just excited about it. Nice. It's my band that I have and--but it's not like a "band"-sounding album. It's definitely a hip-hop-sounding record, you know what I mean, like, chops and stuff, but it's just all played. So I'm just really excited about doing something, trying to do something new and something fresh. So that's what The Renaissance entails. Excellent, man. And now, I mean, have you been working on this--I know several years back there was the Kamaal The Abstract record, which never came out officially. Have you been working on this ever since then or, like, how long have you been recording it for? Well, it's been kind of like a different process because when that Kamaal record didn't come out I went to DreamWorks, and I recorded this album called Open and did like 15 joints and then DreamWorks folded. So then after they folded we went to Interscope, and then we bounced over to Geffen, and I was just sitting with these songs that never came out. So I started tooling with them and retooling and recording. And some stuff had gotten out. So this is kind of like a little bit of that record with some newer things as well. Was dealing with that--bouncing around on different labels and whatnot, I mean, was that frustrating for you? Were you getting pissed about going back and forth and stuff not panning out, or did it just make you sort of hungrier to do it right this time? Or both? Definitely both. Definitely hungry and I want to get the process going again, you know what I mean, like, I want to put out albums and grow and hit the road and do it again and get in my groove because that's how I--you know, some people--if you had to draw an analogy to sports, I guess, some people can come up and just come up to bat and just get on a torrid thing and then cool off, or somebody could just be a shooter, and then other people it's more like groove and then once they get in a groove it's like you can't really f*** with them. Right, right. I hear you. I'm more of, like, a person that I need to have the groove going, you know what I mean, and get in it and get in the middle of it. So I'm anxious and excited to go. Cool, man. That sounds good. So who do you have on there in terms of--I know Dilla did some of the production and you've got some tracks from him or that you're incorporating. Just one thing that we did. Just one? Yeah. Okay. What about, is there any guest emcees or singers or anything like that? I have D'Angelo. And then this artist that I'm working with named Al B. Okay. And that's about it. Cool, man. That sounds good. And now this is coming out through Motown? Universal. Okay, cool. Are you planning to do a big tour once that--like, top of next year or something, once it comes out? Yeah, in October actually, and we'll do little runs. And then go the season and come back and see what's popping. And what about--I know you've also done a bunch of acting stuff. Are you still working on that, or are you just more focusing on the record right now? Yeah, I'm just zeroing in on the music right now and just getting this off the ground. So that's where I'm at right now. Excellent. Now you know I've got to also ask about Tribe. I know you guys did the reunion tour, like, last year. I got to see the show out in Berkeley, which was great. I know every once in a while these rumors emerge about potential new records or a new project together. Is that at all on the table, or are you just focused on the solo stuff now? Yeah, we're kind of done with that and that's it. All right. I also want to talk just about sort of the state of hip-hop and the industry and whatnot. You've been doing this for a long time now, like almost 20 years putting out records and stuff, and it's changed dramatically since you guys first came out. Both the music and the business of it is like way, way different now. Do you feel like hip-hop in general is in a good place, or do you feel like it's more problematic now than it used to be, or a little bit of both, or what? Yeah. I think that it's good that we're in a place where the opportunities are plentiful. I believe that hip-hop is global, is world culture, like, it's the sensibility of billions I think. And its effects are far-reaching. I also think that the music itself is kind of suffering because everything is pop. Sure, sure. I feel like there was a time, maybe back in the days, where if you go--I mean, if you go to the far, far past to maybe the '70s, somebody like, I don't know, somebody like Badfinger [laughs] or somebody like Johnnie Taylor was able to make a living and be okay. On the top there was like a Joni Mitchell or Earth, Wind & Fire. But there was an underbelly that was just as thriving.

And then if you want to move it up a little bit, you know, when people like N.W.A was doing it or when we was doing it, you know, or when Nirvana was doing it, there was like the UMC's or there was Das EFX underneath or The Cranberries were able to do stuff. So there was just different tiers that was there. So you had pop and then you have widely successful pop, like, you know, I guess Hammer or Madonna. So you had different levels of music operating, whereas today it's just all one thing. It's all one feed. Everybody is trying to get on the radio as pop, you know what I mean.

And the stuff that's underground is, like, you can't hear it anywhere except if you go online. And unfortunately, although the numbers are growing, the majority of the population in this country don't even own computers, maybe about 40-some-odd-percent of the people here in this country have computers, you know what I mean. So it's not like you get to hear--I guess, like Lupe is not as popping as he should be because the underground or the underbelly is suffering. There is no other tier. So that, I think, is a bad thing. And I think because everybody is trying to get on that top tier, everybody is trying to make the same kind of records and nobody is really following their heart, they're following some sort of formula to get to that top tier. Totally. So those are my thoughts. I think it would be nice to rage against the machine, pardon the pun, and you know... I know that was a little embellished, but... No. I hear you, man. I get what you're saying, definitely. And I also wanted to touch on--you know, it seems like recently, the past couple of months, I mean, this has been happening for 20 years or whatever, but it seems like hip-hop is really in the crosshairs of the media and all these conservative people and whatnot, sort of blaming it for all the problems in society and trying to ban certain stuff, this and that. It's sort of back in the spotlight as this big controversial thing, even though it's kind of "same as it ever was" in terms of that. What is your feelings on some of the stuff that's been going on, like, with Al Sharpton and Rush trying to ban certain words, or Imus bugging out and, like, the billboards and all that? I think they all are a big bag of ridiculous. Yep. And they all need to just chill out. And people have obviously forgotten who's on. You know, you don't really hear Al going on it right now. And Russell was saying stuff like--I love Russell. Russell used to manage me and everything but, you know, a little convoluted with everything, not really sure what side of the fence he's standing on. Totally, yeah. And one, he was totally confusing me and he was totally, like, politicized. And, you know, Oprah is just--you know, she can have Superhead on her show but she can't have Jay-Z. She can't have 50, a kid who got shot nine times, regardless of whatever he was involved with and he was able to make some sort of a turnaround even though you may think that his lyrics are whatever they are, but he's an articulate dude and he's willing to have that debate. But you're going to have a girl on your show who gladly accepts and adopts a nickname, Superhead.

Like, you know, Oprah I'm ashamed of, Russell I'm confused by, and Al I don't have empathy towards. So it's all just all silly because we didn't create the word "nigger," we didn't create the word "ho," we didn't create the word "bitch." Hip-hop, the lyrics, were probably a bit more misogynistic when I was doing it than they are now. You know, you had the Geto Boys, you had Ice Cube, "What you need to do is kick the b**** in the tummy," you know, s*** like that, 2 Live Crew, like, that was a little bit more misogynistic lyrically. The image wasn't. But today the images are a bit more misogynistic, but not only in hip-hop, but all across the board.

When you look at reality TV and you see the s*** that's happening on the "Flavor of Love: Charm School" or whatever, every second you see a big-city girl with her s*** popping out. How suggestive is that, you know what I mean? So I think if you're going to point that finger, there needs to be more introspection, which there hasn't been. So that's not a valid argument to me. Right on, man. Now I also want to ask you--I know in addition to your own record, you've been still popping up in cameos and whatnot. Is it true that you're on the new Wu-Tang record? I'm producing. You're producing? Yeah. Nice. How did that come about? I just--I'm a fan. I know those guys. And just from talking and, yeah. That's cool, man. What's the name of the track? Can you give us any info on that? No. [Laughs.] Okay. So December 18th, The Renaissance. To you, at this point in the game, would you rather have the record blow up and go platinum but maybe people...like basically, sales or the reviews or the streets or whatever, what is more important to you? Like, what would your ideal thing be with the album? I mean, ideally I think we all do it so that we could be heard and people like it and it to be a success. And I think success is relative, and to me success with this record would definitely be--you know, you want it to sell. You don't want it not to sell. But I think more importantly for me is that I would be able to get back to my base and to be able to perform and to be able to grow my base. And more and more people aren't just--it's not like a fleeting sale, like, "Oh, I like that song," and you just buy it. I want somebody to kind of get what I'm saying and get with what I'm trying to do or, you know, somebody invest into you. I guess that's what we kinda do, so... Right on, man. Well, I've got one more question for you and then I'll let you roll, man. I know you've got a lot of stuff going on. It's all good. You're a veteran in this. You've been doing it a long time; nowadays more than ever, like, everybody wants to be a rapper. Everybody wants to be a producer or be a mogul or run their own label. And it's kind of like back in the day people had demo tapes, and now they've got a Myspace page. What would your advice be for, like, the millions and millions of kids out there that's trying to get on? Well, you've got to love what you do, first of all, and if you're doing it just to kind of hustle and to get on and get your Myspace page jumped off and get friends and be hot and put 10 f***ing mixtapes out--I swear to God, if I see another dude, "Yo, I got my mixtapes popping," I am going to yam in my pants, man. Uhh! Jesus Christ. It's crazy. It's like, you know, you've got to...[laughs]. Yo, it's like, you know, there needs to--I don't know. You've got to love it. This is not something that you do hustle and to come, to me, to come up because if you do that you're going to meet the plight of a hustler, which is, you'll either die or wind up not being able to do it, locked out of it. I believe that you have to have some love. Like, even Jay-Z, as much as Jay wants to say he's a hustler, he's a hustler, as long as I've known him--and I've known him for a long time--and he was always rhyming in addition to whatever else he was doing. He's a rhyming-ass dude.

So there's some love there, you know what I mean. So I don't want people to get confused and to think--and the same, you know, goes for anybody else who's, like, widely successful. They have a real love and a passion, regardless of what they tell you, for what they do. So you have to have the same kind of drive and passion and be intuitive and be connected to what it is that you do if you want to do it. Right on, man. Excellent. Well, thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to me, Tip. I appreciate it, man. And I look forward to hearing more of the new record. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Good luck with everything and take care. Thank you, Brolin.