Q Tip doesn't get the recognition he deserves

[Ghost In The 'Lac]

especially

when people name the best all time 'producers who also MC'

Makes me laugh when people mention guys like Diamond D, JayDee, Madlib, very average rappers that are no where near Tip on the mic

Q tip handled all the production on the first 3 ATCQ abums (apart from a couple of tracks)

and att the same time introduced a fresh sttyle of rap with tribe, in terms of subject matter, Tribe were untouchable when it came to that

when you talk about producers who MC, in terms of whose the best, just BEING a prodcuer who raps isnt enough

1. RZA
2. Q Tip
3. Kanye

I'd then scatter guys like MF DOOM, DJ Quik, Pimp C, Dre and Andre 3k in there behind.


This is in terms of producers who are elite on the mic (at least at their peaks). RZA used to be one of the best MC's in the clan, obviously hes awful these days, but his verses on Forever, 6 feet deep, and 36 chambers easily elevate him above anything the likes of Diamond D could or has ever pulled out. Kanye is one their because he defintiely brought a new style of personal rap really out there, and his flow has been copied alot since he came out.


These are 3 ELITE producers who are also in their time ELITE mc's, not elite producers who are also decent mc's. Dont you dare say "pete rock".


Not forgetting Tip's work on Illmatic, The Infamous, his production work with the Ummah, Tip is easily the 2nd greatest and most influential rapper/producer in hip hop.

[Ghost In The 'Lac]

tired of seeing "raplists" that dont include Q Tip near the top of things for whatever reason

also never see Tip mentioned when it comes to Queens best rappers, this is ludicrous imo

even i forgot to just put him in my top5 QB rappers

[Ghost In The 'Lac]

also JayDee would be in the top 6 because his verses on Fantastic vol1 were of a standard

and fitted perfectly with his beats

his verse on Climax was ill, especially how he ended it

[J-DON]

youre right, I always seem to forget he does both

[Ghost In The 'Lac]

and before people start to question the fact

Production wise you did the large part of the first 3 A Tribe Called Quest albums correct?
I did all of it, except for where Skeff Anselm‘s noted

So you did “Lyrics To Go” too?
Yeah…

Why is there no bassline on that song?
(Laughs) I don’t know man… I was just feeling those Rhodes you know?!? I just wanted to let that shit ride!

http://www.moovmnt.com/2009/04/19/ex...tip-interview/

honestly

there are times when im listening to Tribe and im saying to myself

"damn..I think Q Tip might be my favorite rapper of all time"

[LORD NOSE]

in the late 80s and throughout the 90s Tribe put out the best shit - i thought everyone knew that - they always had the best sound that became the standard
the best producer Mc combos

Large Pro
Krs
Qtip
Rakim

not in that order

out of all of them, Qtip is less mentioned because for so long we always thought that Ali was doing most of those beats

[claaa7]

hell yeah, i agree with you - Q-Tip breathes hip-hop, easily one of the greatest minds of hip-hop but when reading interviews with him i sometimes get the impression he's gassing himself up alot because he never got the recognition he deserved for his production. there's no doubt he's one of the best producers but i don't believe Ali Shaheed Muhammad had nothing to do with the first 3 Tribes album - if you read old interviews when they were together they said Ali and Tip produced the beats, and i've heard a lot of beats on other peoples record produced by Ali that has that Tribe sound. i think Tip did some, Ali did some and they collaborated on some but either way that's some of the illest and most creative beats ever.

[ALCATRAZ]

don't forget havoc

[BGS]

tip sure is one of the top producer/mc out there! i agree with the threadstarter, as much i love madlib the producer, he is a weak mc, j dilla was not a really great mc either, which is my biggest problem with champion sound...beats are incredible but the vocals are average as hell...

but to stay on topic: Q-Tip is a legend!

[Pestilence]

Yeah, I agree that people often forget or don't give Q-Tip enough credit when naming the best producer/rapper.

Lord Finesse is one of personal favourites tho.

[fortyglock]

don't forget havoc

BIG cosign. Havoc also deserves to be mentioned in the list of greatest producers/emcees.

But yeah, I agree with Lacey...Q-Tip is definitely one of THE greatest producers/mc's period. Not only has he produced countless classics, but he's also a very gifted lyricist with a unique style. His Renaissance album is IMO a very well crafted and has a cohesive feel throughout it.

[Ghost In The 'Lac]

hell yeah, i agree with you - Q-Tip breathes hip-hop, easily one of the greatest minds of hip-hop but when reading interviews with him i sometimes get the impression he's gassing himself up alot because he never got the recognition he deserved for his production. there's no doubt he's one of the best producers but i don't believe Ali Shaheed Muhammad had nothing to do with the first 3 Tribes album - if you read old interviews when they were together they said Ali and Tip produced the beats, and i've heard a lot of beats on other peoples record produced by Ali that has that Tribe sound. i think Tip did some, Ali did some and they collaborated on some but either way that's some of the illest and most creative beats ever.

nah man, it was all Tip:

Yeah that’s definitely how they sounded. Well I think that’s it…
Well I just feel like… what I wanted to say. When I did Tribe… like a lot of people didn’t know that I produced the first 3 Tribe albums. Because on it it said “produced by A Tribe Called Quest”. I put that because I didn’t feel like the individual should be greater than the unit. And I was raised to believe that the unit represented strength. It was strength and numbers. So if you moved as a unit that was it. That’s why I wasn’t into “produced by Q-Tip”, I was like let’s just say “produced by A Tribe Called Quest” and we can all benefit from it

Is that also a reason you used “produced by The Abstract” (for example on Mobb Deep’s “The Infamous” album)?
Yeah just to kind of keep it like… I don’t want to get too glossed on it. It was the same thing for The Ummah. That’s why I came up with The Ummah, because I felt it was the brotherhood. That word (Ummah) means brotherhood. But the problem with The Ummah and even now with me with Tribe… With Ummah, just because I was the face, people would automatically assume sometimes, like with that “Sometimes” remix, that I produced it or that I did the beat when it was Dilla. So people would get confused sometimes over that and think that just because I’m the face of it, if it says The Ummah it means that I did it or credited it as such. And that wasn’t the case. So he (Dilla) wanted to make sure that he got known for what he did


It’s the same thing for Tribe right now, a lot of people still think Ali did those first 3 albums because he was the DJ. People don’t realize… I even had the head of my record company, Barry Weiss, who was the head of Jive. When I saw him 3 years ago and we were talking about doing Tribe again he was like ‘It would be great to get Ali back on those beats’. And I was like ‘Barry… we have been working together for 15 years and you don’t know I did all of that?’ So I can emphatize with where Dilla was at because I was at the same place you know?!? My whole idea I think it was a great idea to represent a unit. But from poor management to not really understanding the ramifications of it, it didn’t work to that (great idea) necessarily. Still in all I think we all were able to make some good music

[RAW-TASTE]

youre right, I always seem to forget he does both

yeaaa true

hes dope solo too, 'amplified' sucked but 'the renaissance' was a straight banger with great replay value

[claaa7]

nah man, it was all Tip:

i know man, i'm a big fan of Tip and i read several interviews with him (including those you posted) but i also remember reading interviews when A Tribe Called Quest was still together when Ali and Tip was in the same room and Ali said he also produced on the Tribe records, Tip didn't say shit. also if you check the credits to "Beat, Rhymes & Life", some solo songs by Q-Tip on there has the credit to K. Fareed which obviously means he produced the song entirely by himself but several songs has a writing credit for A. Muhammad. now you don't get a writing credit for scratches, he did produce on those records no matter what Tip said later. Tip also said that J Dilla did NOT produce "Got Til' It's Gone" by Janet.

i think Tip produced the bulk of the Tribe albums but Ali Shaheed definitely produced or co-produced certain tracks. i think they worked like Tip or Ali came up with a beat and then they both or one of them finished it. as i said there's plenty of Ali Shaheed produced records for other artists around that time that has that sound. i don't know why Tip would say that in that interview... even on the first Tribe album Jarobi calls Ali Shaheed "The sound provider" on that interlude introducing the members.

this is not to take anything away from Tip, he's one of the best producers ever and definitely the best producer/MC. his solo catalouge is amazing too - "Kamaal The Abstract" is a really good album.

[CharlesJones]

LOL@Claaa7 saying Kamaal The Abstract is a good album hahahahahahaha. I doubt that and i haven't heard it LOL. A friend of mine told me he heard it and he said it sucks bad. He said QTip doesn't rap on the songs, he sings LOL. His solo albums sucks but he's a good producer.