Production from Q-Tip himself, the late J Dilla, and DJ Scratch overshadows everything else on Amplified<\/i>. When Q-Tip\u2019s lyrics lack punch or substance, the album is saved by cool beats, inspired sampling, and an overall cohesive sound. <\/p>\n
For his solo debut, Q-Tip reels in his socially-conscious side to try something new. Well, new for him anyway. Bragging about your car (\u201cLet\u2019s Ride\u201d) is hardly a bold step. As such, it\u2019s weird hearing Q-Tip rap about \u201cTVs in the back and the dash, too.\u201d The good news is that Q-Tip\u2019s delivery and flow are engaging as usual.<\/p>\n
But the production on \u201cLet\u2019s Ride\u201d holds my attention more than Q-Tip\u2019s vocals and writing. The Joe Pass guitar from \u201cGiant Steps\u201d is an intimidating yet catchy centerpiece that makes \u201cLet\u2019s Ride\u201d the jazziest song on the album. Beyond the jazz and superb beat, the production suggests you are visiting another planet while on drugs. In the background, you can hear various short vocal samples, single high-pitched tones, and other spacey effects. <\/p>\n
The nuanced production improves tracks that don\u2019t seem to go anywhere. \u201cGo Hard\u201d lacks quality lyrics (\u201cGo \/ Go at \/ Go at it hard \/ Real hard\u201d is the definition of an awkward chorus), but damn, that muted bass synthesizer is awesome, and I love how the beat goes metallic for the last 30 seconds. Almost every song has a surprise production-wise, whether it\u2019s the clapping interlude in \u201cWait Up\u201d or the low-to-high frequency note (similar to THX\u2019s audio logo) in \u201cAll In.\u201d <\/p>\n
But isn\u2019t a bit troublesome that I don\u2019t have much to say about the lyrical content of the album? Q-Tip just didn\u2019t put much thought into these songs, which are mainly about bragging or banging. Another common criticism is that Q-Tip uses more profanity in Amplified<\/i>, but I find this complaint shallow and ridiculous. For one thing, profanity doesn\u2019t mean one is less intelligent (I mean, look at Hunter S. Thompson, George Carlin, and Chris Rock). Moreover, compared to numerous other rap albums, the language in Amplified <\/i>is tame. <\/p>\n
The real problem with this album is that it lacks interesting themes and good rhymes. The best lyrics are ironically on a hidden track, but if you\u2019re not familiar with A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip\u2019s former group), the story will not interest you that much. <\/p>\n
Despite its flaws, Amplified <\/i>is quite listenable, excluding horrible guest appearances by Busta Rhymes and Korn. (In fact, Korn is featured on the final track, \u201cEnd Of Time,\u201d which doesn\u2019t fit the album that well in general.) I recommend this album for its outstanding production alone. Just be warned that the songs mostly suck otherwise. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":30259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8463],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-41912","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-q-tip","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41912"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41912"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}