51. Q-Tip - The Renaissance

This is Q-Tip's second studio album (not including this work with A Tribe Called Quest) and it was probably the best hip-hop album released in 2008. The thing that makes this album work is that 'Tip' obviously used his experience within the music industry to create a hip-hop album that had a different sound to anything else popular at the time. 

The entire album, with the exception of two tracks, are produced by Q-Tip and although non of the songs sound the same, the whole album has continuity whereas a lot of hip hop albums generally sound like a bunch of songs thrown together rather than one piece. The album incorporates lush soulful and jazzy production using a refreshing mix of live instruments and samples to make a great overall sound. 

Q-Tip is no slouch on the microphone either. Throughout the album he regales the listener with stories about love, hip-hop, modern society and the music industry (which Tip surely has a few gripes about). Another thing which makes this album great is the opposite of what makes most hip-hop albums bad, there are no 'skits' and the album has a total of 12 track which is perfect for a rap album.

Until tomorrow.....
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