The skills Q-Tip learnt from Jay-Z, Kanye West and Pusha T
Q-Tip is a member of the legendary A Tribe Called Quest who inspired generations of hip-hop. However, the New York rapper isn’t too proud to admit that he learns from artists that came after him.
When he was signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label in 2012, Q-Tip opened up about things he learnt from being in the studio with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Pusha T. He went as far as calling the way Pusha T makes music “beyond words.”
“One thing I got from Pusha from watching him and his description of things, his approach is really interesting because he really immerses himself in his music,” he told Complex about the sessions for Cruel Summer and how it changed the very fabric of how he wrote and performed music. “We all do, but his way of doing it is beyond words. It’s amazing to watch and see how he does it.”
Q-Tip was also impressed by Jay-Z and Kanye West’s process in writing lyrics. Instead of completing every single bar, they’ll miss out some occasional lyrics and come back to them with a fresh mindset 48 hours later.
“Watching Jay do lyrics and watching Ye do beats, you see similarities in yourself to them,” he said of the game-chganging experience of watching two masters at work. “Sometimes when that happens you are like, ‘Phew. I’m not the only crazy one. They do the same shit I do.’ That’s a learning point as well.”
He continued, “When I’ve seen Jay do lyrics, he’ll sit back and spit the rhymes himself, he’ll leave a bar or two, he’ll come back to it another day and fill it in. He’ll go away and think about and come back two days later and fill it in. I’m a person who will fill that in. And I’ve seen Ye do it too. It’s a technique thing.”
On the flip side, as a veteran of the game, Q-Tip also has a few lessons of his own to teach them. “I love to give information out,” he said. “Anything that I’ve known I give; from sounds to mixes to opinions. I just try to be vocal. So I give a lot. I don’t really know what I give. But I know that I do give. I don’t keep inventory of what I give. I just do it because I enjoy it.”
Q-Tip recruited Kanye West for vocals on ‘The Killing Season’, a song from A Tribe Called Quest’s final album We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service in 2016. They also teamed up on the Busta Rhymes song ‘Thank You’ in 2013 alongside Lil Wayne.
A longtime fan of Q-Tip, Kanye mentioned Tribe on ‘Last Call’ from his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, rapping, “Fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest/ But all they got left is this guy called West.”