Although released as his third album, “Kamaal The Abstract” is an album that Q-Tip had shelved and would have become his second outing. Deemed too alternative on its first time around (around 2001/2002) after the New York MC (who came out of A Tribe Called Quest) had put out another album, ... Read review
Advantages: Lots of bangers Disadvantages: One weak tune
Although released as his third album, “Kamaal The Abstract” is an album that Q-Tip had shelved and would have become his second outing. Deemed too alternative on its first time around (around 2001/2002) after the New York MC (who came out of A Tribe Called Quest) had put out another album, he left it was time to unleash this and show the develops he had made leading up to that point by dropping this in 2009.
1. “Feelin’”
... ...that showed me that as a solo artist he had been able to effectively recover from a bit of a shaky start in “Amplified” in order to come out with such heavy material this time around as he begins the album with a jazzy tune and one that is seen to take forward a lot of what had been seen in past work (with all the Jazz) and make it move on with the times.
Although released as his third album, “Kamaal The Abstract” is an album that Q-Tip had shelved and would have become his second outing. Deemed too alternative on its first time around (around 2001/2002) after the New York MC (who came out of A Tribe Called Quest) had put out another album, he left it was time to unleash this and show the develops he had made leading up to that point by dropping this in 2009.
1. “Feelin’”
He starts things off with a heavy tune and one that showed me that as a solo artist he had been able to effectively recover from a bit of a shaky start in “Amplified” in order to come out with such heavy material this time around as he begins the album with a jazzy tune and one that is seen to take forward a lot of what had been seen in past work (with all the Jazz) and make it move on with the times.
**Five Stars**
2. “Do U Dig U?”
He ensures that the standards have no opportunity to slip as he lays down another powerful one with this jam and lays down the funky grooves as only he can (as the sole producer to this record). You see that from this one, fairly early in the album, that we are getting more of the alternative influences coming through as he manages to escape conventional rapping and still does a fine job of it all to make for material that I can’t see too many having issues with as he does a mellow and passive tune.
**Five Stars**
3. “A Million Times”
This one I felt had much more power within it and it seems to build upon what was heard in the last one and allows the Queens rapper to bring in much more Hip Hop into the mix in order to carry it along for him and make him come out with material that is much more likely to connect with you on the first occasion than others on this tune that doesn’t really have anything to it unless you really engage with it fully.
**Five Stars**
4. “Blue Girl”
He goes down the bluesy root as he gets into this one and performs another that you really can’t escape the jazz elements to. I felt that this classy two-stepper from the artist showed just how well he has come along with his production to the point where he knows how exactly he can manipulate sounds to fit his mood (which in this, as mnay of the others here, is extremely relaxed and takes you into this frame of mind too.
**Five Stars**
5. “Barely In Love”
This is the first major change in the music on the album as you find that with this one you get live instrumentals and the artist coming to lift the tempo quite a bit to come out with one that branches out in completely new directions. I personally wasn’t into this one, and it helped me to understand why (after bringing out “Vivrant Thing” and “Breathe Ad Stop” as singles from his debut) he chose not to release this album the first time around.
**Two Stars***
6. “Heels”
On this one you see that he is backed up by some heavy live drumming that is all done in Hip Hop stlye in order to take things right back towards much more conventional places and to re-connect me after being put off by the last cut that he offered. It is a fresh tune and one that forces you to bump along to its flyness. When compared to the other material here, I could have seen this as a big single from him to represent what you should expect from this one.
**Five Stars**
7. “Abstractionsims”
You get some percussion in this one too as you see that this one is led by the raw kickdrums and from here you see that he comes in with the killer rhymes that have excited listeners since he bursted on the scene in 1990. It is a banger of a Hip Hop jam and I’m sure that anyone who is into a little from The Roots will be able to get down to the killer material here that shows just how far he can take things and still stick in with the core Hip Hop ideals.
**Five Stars**
8. “Caring” (Lude)
9. “Even If It Is So”
After a short interlude you see that he ends the album off with a jam that I also felt would have done well as a single as in this one he goes about things in a manner that I would have to liken to the sort of freshness that was felt at this sort of time when Neo-Soul initially got it big break. It is a soothing tune and one that has him bringing some big rhymes to accompany the light, jazzy production that he composed.
**Five Stars**
Even though I thought that when it was said that it was a bit too alternative to put out meant that he had gone a bit too much ‘Mos Def’ on the fans, I was pleased to see that really nothing much had changed and really he had come up with a big album that I’m sure any fan of the late eighties to early nineties Jazz Rap scene will be happy with.
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