Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, AKA Q-Tip, made his name in the ‘90s hip-hop scene with his groundbreaking group A Tribe Called Quest.
Now, the Grammy-winning artist has unveiled his next project – and this time, it’s not just new music.
He announced on Twitter the production of “A Tribe Called Quest Coronavirus Kits”. Each kit contains Covid-19 necessities including masks, hand sanitizer, and more. All kits have the cover art of the group’s last album emblazoned on them.
Be safe
Soon Come🙏🏾✊🏾🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/38cxj5VMqK
— QTip (@QtipTheAbstract) July 20, 2020
“A Tribe Called Quest” and “The Ummah”
Q-Tip, also known as The Abstract, has established himself as a lyrical legend throughout his solo career and as part of A Tribe Called Quest. His jazzy style and distinctive tone earned him fast recognition in the rising ‘90s hip-hop scene.
He grew interested in music in early childhood, making tape beats at only 12 years old. At about 18 he helped found A Tribe Called Quest. The group received significant critical acclaim, with their album The Low End Theory called “one of the closest and most brilliant fusions of jazz atmosphere and hip-hop attitude ever recorded” by critic John Bush.
However, Q-Tip also had many side projects. These include The Ummah, formed of Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jay Dee, and multiple solo pieces throughout this time.
When A Tribe Called Quest released their fifth album in 1998, a fire occurred Q-Tip’s house and burned over 20,000 vinyls and his studio. This disaster, on top of declining chemistry within the group, led to it breaking up.
Q-Tip grew up a musician
“I grew up on the rough side of the tracks. If you looked like you were soft, you would be fodder for the wolves,” Q-tip speaks of his childhood in Harlem and Queens to The Guardian. “I came up in my neighborhood like, ‘I’m just gonna be me,’ and all the thugs just said, ‘It’s OK, he’s special.’” His childhood friends and family all encouraged him to develop his “talent with the rhymes.”
Born John Davis, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Kamaal Ibn Kohn Fareed in 1996. Although he incorporates some of his belief into his music, he typically doesn’t open up about it. “I think everyone should just be allowed to believe what they want to believe, as long as they don’t transgress against the next person,” he says. “It doesn’t make a difference what you are.”
Q-Tip’s solo career and coronavirus kits
A Tribe Called Quest reunited for one more album after the 2016 death of Phife Dawg, one of the founding members. Although they disbanded once more, Q-Tip is by no means done with music. Although his last solo album came out in 2008, he has since released multiple joint albums and recently announced three upcoming albums: Algorhythms, Riot Diaries, and The Last Zulu.
Other than music, Q-Tip has his hand in a number of projects. He joined the Kennedy Center as their first artistic director for hip-hop programming. In October of 2018, he told NME, “I will do this to my death,” referring to music and production. “I am going to be like James Brown or Louis Armstrong or Prince; they did music until they couldn’t do it anymore and were gone.”
Although A Tribe Called Quest is no more, Q-Tip recently announced via Twitter the release of coronavirus safety kits, including hand sanitizer, masks, and more, all emblazoned with the group’s logo.
Purchase a “survival kit” here.
