If mention of the word Q-Tip brings to mind images of little cotton beauty products, open a new window (no need to leave the site) and do a search for A Tribe Called Quest before reading on. If, however, you're among the millions of hip-hop heads that recognize the moniker as belonging to the legendary Tribe Called Quest mc, then you're probably already bobbin' ya head to one of their signature bass-heavy beats in your mental sound system. Stepping back into the limelight on the cusp of his third (yes third...PLEASE don't sleep on the unreleased classic Kamaal: The Abstract) solo venture dubbed Live at The Renaissance, Tip headlined an evening for true children of the beats and rhymes capped off by a surprise guest appearance by a music demigod.

Hailing from Moreno Valley, seventeen year old upstart pair C Green kicked things off with beats that might have belied their age had it not been for the backpacks they had strapped to them. Next up was Sincere, with equally strong tracks and somewhat more pronounced crowd work. They were decent performances given the scant early crowd, but the speakers, with bass levels so low you could feel the vibes in your bone marrow, presented a tantalizing taste of things to come.

The penultimate MC, Percee P, gave a master class in Hip Hop education. In between his machine gun tempo, jazz-scat style flows, P made it very clear that he'd been hustling the streets of the BX while most of the modern radio wannabes were cutting their teeth on nursery rhymes. The Furious 5. The Sugarhill Gang. He ran with the forefathers of the boom bap and still has the skills to prove it. The crowd hung on every a cappella word when the DJ dropped the beat for the last verse of a searing hot tune, and the difference between a rapper and a true MC became very apparent. The tonality of his voice and the sincerity of his conviction were reminiscent of a civil rights leader in his prime and with that stellar performance, the stage was set for Tip to spread his wings and fly high like a dove.

Backed by his extremely talented band and yet another hip-hop pioneer in DJ Scratch, Q-Tip used the thunderous hype generated by his appearance to power through a brand new joint. The frenetic energy carried through a review of Tribe standards including "Can I Kick It?", "Award Tour", his own Breathe and Stop and a brief but sparkling rendition of the jazz standard "Giant Steps" which showcased Tip's very capable singing talents.

DJ Scratch got a chance to showcase his own epic skills on the wheels of steel with a mind-blowing solo gymnastic scratch off. Behind the back, with his nose, even while taking off his shirt, Scratch spun the 1's and 2's with blinding speed. At the climax he was joined by Tip, and the two of them literally and figuratively spun around each other, never missing a beat. After the audience caught their breath from that amazing spectacle, it was on to more of the new from the forthcoming Renaissance. "It's Time," is sure to be rattling a lot of speakers early next year; because the Key Club was definitely feeling the head-bobbing track.

The real highlight of the evening however, came completely out of the blue. Tip invited two successive girls up onstage to cover Phife's vocals on "Check the Rhyme," and they both successively failed to hilarious results. They were escorted off the stage by the keyboardist a la the Sandman from Showtime at the Apollo. So when the band went in search of someone to sing their impromptu jam of "Superstitious," you'd expect more of the same, right? Wrong. After a few restless minutes of "We need somebody that can really sing this song...anybody," an all-to-accurate voice started into the chorus, and the man, the myth, the legend Stevie Wonder himself was helped onto the stage. Needless to say, some of us were screaming like little girls. Stevie and Tip wrapped up the show amidst a sea of glowing cell phones and camera flashes with increasingly difficult call and responses. Apparently when you're a musical genius, you forget that thirty-two note vocal runs aren't in the average hip-hop concertgoer's repertoire. Damned if it wasn't fun to try though.

All in all, nobody in attendance could say that they didn't get their money's worth that evening. Even aside from the guest appearances, it was very apparent that Q-Tip is still very much in the game that he helped start. It's high time for another hip-hop Renaissance (album to be released around February), and who better to lead it than The Abstract?

By Worldwide J