Q-Tip - The Renaissance

Reviews of The Renaissance

Rating Summary
n/a by www.ew.com His music now seems as fresh and necessary an alternative to rap's mainstream as it did when Tribe first arrived. Welcome back, old friend. Read more
n/a by www.boston.com The disc is an affirmation that life, and hip-hop, can indeed get better. Read more
n/a by www.spin.com Up-tempo and uplifting, this largely self-produced record blurs distinctions between accessibility and avant-gardism. Read more
n/a by www.guardian.co.uk Cloaking its eclecticism with a homogenising sheen, the album's frequent changes of mood and direction dazzle. Read more
n/a by www.avclub.com It's an appropriately elegiac, bittersweet conclusion to a solid though less-than-transcendent comeback album from a hip-hop icon who has survived to make good music, even if he hasn't exactly thrived. Read more
n/a by www.blender.com The Renaissance hints at newness, but its cushy boom-bap grooves, airy soulfulness and rhymes about struggle and redemption recall raps Edenic golden age. Read more
n/a by www.urb.com In a sentence, Q-Tips long-awaited release looks to get people to thinking, loving, and dancing, as usual. Read more
n/a by www.rapreviews.com Whilst not quite a true Renaissance for hip hop, it certainly is a rebirth for Q-Tip--and fans of A Tribe Called Quest will dine out on this album for the next nine years too. Read more
n/a by Pitchfork Media It's hard to complain too much about such a brighter-day kind of record, and it feels like the perfect album at the perfect time-- released on Election Day, appropriately enough, as the ideal soundtrack for Barack Obama winning the presidency. Read more
n/a by www.nowtoronto.com So the cookie-cutter joints are tossed out the window for The Renaissance as Q-Tip attempts to show that he can creatively flow over whatever unusual progression or production twist comes along with each successive track. Read more
n/a by www.villagevoice.com After myriad delays and label woes, it's clear the interminable wait for new material was worth it. Read more
n/a by latimesblogs.latimes.com Though he gripes that fans are always bringing up Tribe, The Renaissance is a showcase for Q-Tip's cool and empathetic consciousness. Read more
n/a by www.hotpress.com Q-Tip demonstrates his unique talent in this sleek, soulful, silky-smooth hip-hop album. Read more
n/a by www.cokemachineglow.com The Renaissance functions as a representation that hes never needed to say much of anything to be immensely enjoyable. Read more
n/a by www.slantmagazine.com The Renaissance Q-Tip reaffirms his stature as one of the hip-hop greats by waxing unassuming, cool-headed and wise. Read more