As promised when he released the Excursions remix a couple weeks ago, producer J. Period has now unleashed his Q-Tip tribute The [Abstract] Best, a comprehensive and career-spanning mix that meshes an all-star lineup with classic Tribe clips and Q-Tip interviews.
Fair warning: The file unzips as 49 separate tracks and the artist tags reflect the many guests (one of my pet peeves), so unless you change the tags, you’ll want to order your iTunes library by album to listen to this in order.
On another note … while Q-Tip is undoubtedly one of my favorite artists in hip-hopmusic, this project reinforces something I’ve been thinking about lately: What is Phife’s legacy? There is a 30-second Respect to Phife Dawg interlude on the mix that almost seems forced. Granted, neither Phife nor Q-Tip will go down as technically sound MCs in the class of, say, Rakim or Nas, but it was their camaraderie and chemistry that made each other better. Just wondering: Are Phife’s contributions to A Tribe Called Quest being forgotten as the years pass?
[ZIP]: J. Period feat. Consequence and Kid Cudi | Buggin’ Out ’09
[ZIP]: J. Period feat. Talib Kweli, ?uestlove, Randy Watson | Youthful Expression ’09
I don’t think Phife’s been forgotten. I think with his failing health, he can’t physically do as many shows/appearances as Q-Tip. Also, since Tribe broke up, Tip’s always been working on projects, whether they were released or not. Ali did Lucy Pearl and that one album where he rapped a few years ago. Phife did one LP and that’s about it.