Q-Tip & Kendrick Lamar Link On A Song That Sounds Like Vintage ATCQ (Audio)
It’s no secret that Kendrick Lamar is heavily influenced by A Tribe Called Quest. During his To Pimp A Butterfly Tour, Lamar made 18,000 concertgoers in Sydney, Australia pay homage to Phife Dawg the day Tribe’s co-founder passed away back in 2016. Later that year, fans heard Phife and Lamar share verses on “Conrad Tokyo” from A.T.C.Q,’s final album We got it from Here…Thank You 4 Your service.
Worldwide fans of the superstar DAMN. rapper and Tribe’s front-man should be ecstatic to learn that “Conrad Tokyo” was not the only collaboration. Yesterday (February 9), during Q-Tip’s weekly Abstract Radio show (Friday nights at 10-12pm EST on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio station) he unearthed his K-Dot collabo’, “Want U 2 Want.”
Even as a Q-Tip record, the track (provided by 2DopeBoyz) is quintessential Tribe. It shows The Abstract’s trademark production features of jazzy keys, punchy boom-bap snares, with a thunderous bassline. Lamar brings his nasal, layered vocals for the song’s chorus as well as a verse. Q-Tip continues his mission to carry out his “love movement” with some of his vocals as a minor clean-up in the song’s final seconds. The chorus for “Want U 2 Want” interpolates a portion of the memorable hook from late R&B icon Marvin Gaye’s 1976 hit single “I Want You.”
The recording date of “Want U 2 Want” is unclear, but it sounds like it could have been from the We got it from Here…Thank You 4 Your service recording sessions. Also, there is speculation that both Q-Tip and Lamar began to join forces in the studio as far back at 2011, during the Compton MC’s Section.80 period.
Kendrick Lamar & SZA Show The Gorgeousness Of Wakanda In Their New Video
After five wins for his DAMN. album at the 60th Grammy Awards last month (including “Best Rap Album,” category), Lamar continues his streak of critical acclaim. He executive produced the original motion picture soundtrack of Black Panther, which is receiving rave reviews. The soundtrack for the film was released yesterday. It also features ScHoolboy Q, SZA, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Vince Staples, Mozzy, and more.