The legendary Queens lyricist who convinced Q-Tip to rap
Q-Tip is widely considered to be one of hip-hop’s greats. An innovative producer with an extraordinary knack for lyrics, he, as the leader of A Tribe Called Quest, has left as big a mark on hip-hop as anyone else can reasonably claim to have done.
The jazz-inflected sound of Tribe’s music is instantly recognisable, and Q-Tip was responsible for it more than anyone else. His skill as a producer is entirely plain to hear on most of the group’s songs, but, as a rapper, too, his abilities are strikingly good. Not only is Tip adept and writing a clever line, but his voice sounds so great delivering it.
It’s an odd thought to think that Q-Tip might not have become a rapper, given how good he is at it. There’s a sense that this path was inevitable, but, according to the man himself, he needed to be pushed towards it as a child. It took his friend and future bandmate Phife Dawg to convince him.
While Tip had been born in Harlem, he ended up moving to Queens as a young child. It was here that he met Phife for the first time, meaning that, in a very real way, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg really did grow up together. It was alongside each other that they developed an interest in rap.
The two young boys both sang in choir together, which, maybe, is where their musical camaraderie was first formed. But by around the time they were nine or so, hip-hop was beginning to come into its own. ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the Sugarhill Gang had become a hit, and it sparked something in Phife in particular.
In a voice note that emerged online in the wake of Phife’s untimely death in 2016, Q-Tip can be heard speaking about Phife’s childhood love of ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ As Tip recalled, “the dude was rhyming, like freestyling.” He had been so inspired by the song that he started rapping for himself, “just making stuff up.”
Tip remembered being hugely impressed by Phife Dawg’s abilities. He realised he was “gifted,” and he felt a great deal of “awe” for him. But eventually, Tip would himself develop his own ability to do it.
The emergence of Slick Rick on the music scene was a big thing for Tip and Phife. They both loved his rapping, but it was down to Phife to convince his friend that they could do it, too. As Tip remembered it, it took Phife telling him, “Yo, man. We could just do it!” to sway him.
Phife insisted to Tip “we can rap,” arguing to his friend that what Rick did was in “your lane,” too. Q-Tip credited that conversation with the successful rap career that followed. “So,” he said, “he pushed me to rhyme.”
Funnily enough, the shoe would later be on the other foot. While Phife had once convinced Tip to become a rapper, he eventually lost his way a bit and it took Q-Tip to persuade him to take it seriously again. They were both, at different points, utterly integral to the other’s rap career.