Q-Tip

A fly love, uh uh say what

Common, Erykah Badu, Pharrell Williams, Q-Tip. "Come Close Remix (Closer)." Come Close, Geffen Records, 2003.

Let's get this week started off right.

🎶 Come close to me
Come close baby, come close ma (baby, baby)
Let me hold you love, come closer love
Know this world gets
It gets crazy baby, it gets crazy girl (but)
What's it without you, you, you, you? 🎶

Boy was high, girl fly like kite

De La Soul. "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays.'" De La Soul Is Dead, Tommy Boy, 1991.

Produced by Prince Paul and featuring vocals from Q-Tip and Vinia Mojica, this track samples Chicago's "Saturday In The Park" (another classic) and always makes me want to head to the roller disco when I put it on.

🎶 Saturday, it's a Saturday // 5 days of work, 1 whole day of play // C'mon everybody, wear your rollerskates today 🎶

Joni Mitchell never lies

Janet Jackson, Q-Tip, Joni Mitchell. "Got 'Til It's Gone (feat. Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell)." The Velvet Rope, Black Doll Inc, 1997.

Inspired by a J Dilla Remix of The Brand New Heavies' "Sometimes (feat. Q-Tip)," this is one of my all-time favourite tracks from Janet.

That Joni Mitchell sample from her folk classic "Big Yellow Taxi"? Q-Tip's rhymes? That beat? And that Mark Romanek-directed, Grammy award-winning music video inspired by the photography of South Africa's Drum magazine? Don't even get me started...

Now, why you wanna go and do that, love, huh?

Joni Mitchell, Janet Jackson & Mark Romanek discuss the Music Video "Got 'Till It's Gone" Includes music video by Janet Jackson w/Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell - "Got 'Til It's Gone" (Def Radio Mix). (C) Virgin Records. Directed by Mark Romanek. From the album "The Velvet Rope"

I got so much magic, you can have it

Solange. "Weary." A Seat At The Table, Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, 2016.

This album is all kinds of magic.

The guest appearances from Sampha, Q-Tip, Raphael Saadiq, Tweet, The Dream, Kelly Rowland, BJ The Chicago Kid, Lil Wayne, and those interludes with Percy Miller (aka Master P of No Limit, the soldiers that made you say "ugh, na na na na").

Full album credits here, thanks to The FADER.

I'll have more to say in due time, after only 3 days this is already quickly becoming one of my favourites of 2016. ✨🔮✨

Tell me stories and take me away

Q-Tip, Norah Jones. "Life is Better." The Renaissance, Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc., 2008.

The opening of this track always transports me to a dreamy place, that funky baseline, the electric keys, those drum beats, and Norah's soothing other-worldly vocals.

"I'm so into your rich histories," she coos, "tell me stories and take me away." 

Q-Tip takes the bait and in the second verse goes into an incredible historical overview of hip hop, starting with "a man walked on the moon" and of course ending with the late great J Dilla. It's all a love letter to the genre's greatest.

You eat snails?

A Tribe Called Quest. "Luck of Lucien." The Anthology, Zomba Recording LLC, 1999.

While this hip hop crew disbanded many moons ago, and we tragically lost MC Phife Dawg earlier this year, ATCQ's beats and rhymes continue to live on in our lives. This is one of their funkiest and the perfect jam for an evening living room dance party, in my experience. You should know.