His 2001 album, shelved by the label, will finally be released on Sept. 15th.
From Pitchfork: In 2001, Tip almost released an experimental jazz-pop album called Kamaal the Abstract. It didn't include much actual rapping, and it predated Andre 3000's The Love Below by two years. Q-Tip produced it himself, even playing several instruments on it. A couple of former Miles Davis sidemen also sat in. He recorded the album after scoring a pair of massive dance-rap hits with "Vivrant Thing" and "Breathe and Stop"; Kamaal the Abstract ranks as one of the greatest stylistic left turns in pop history. When we got a five-song sampler from the album at my college radio station, it sounded like one of the weirdest things I'd ever heard.
However, back in 2001, J Records, Q-Tip's label at the time, declined to release the album at the last minute. Here's how Q-Tip described the situation to me: "I did an album, Kamaal the Abstract, and [J Records founder Clive Davis] dug it. It went out to press. People were really liking it. It was, at the time, some other shit, and I guess he just got cold feet." The album was heavily bootlegged, but now, eight years later, it'll finally see official release on September 15 via Battery Records. Get ready to get weirded out.
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