Label: Arista
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Amplified
If you hit up the icebox and there's no jelly, you'll settle for a plain peanut-butter sandwich, right? Yeah, but it sho 'nuff don't jam like PB&J. Likewise, Q-Tip's new joint, Amplified, finds itself anywhere from dope to lacking, depending on the cut.
Overall, though, the former A Tribe Called Quest frontman does his thing, and Jay Dee (of Slum Village) plays provocative on the production. On "Let's Ride," he serves up acid-jazz guitar over a rugged, James Brown break, as Tip waxes sexual about getting lifted and watching Scarface, butt-naked with his favorite "vivrant thing."
And while, granted, his attempt at a collaboration with hard-rock-rap outfit Korn is forgettable, the hidden track, "Do It, Be It, See It," is strictly butter.
Back on "The Low End Theory," Q-Tip asked, "What is a quest if the players ain't willing?" The answer (and his, at the time) is "nada," but who knows? Maybe the Abstract is still questing.