Q-Tip was the featured guest at the third installment of Noisemakers, a bimonthly series hosted by Peter Rosenberg which, as he puts it, is a hip-hop version of Inside The Actor’s Studio.  Q-Tip shed insight into his acclaimed career, revealing stories never publically told before including recalling his first experience listening to J-Dilla, the origins of A Tribe Called Quest and the Native Tongues movement, his hilarious encounter with Miles Davis, Busta Rhymes nearly becoming a member of Tribe, and many more (the whole event is well over 2 hours long).  Questlove was in the building and joined in the discussions towards the end of the interview.  Also included for your listening pleasure is The Cypher’s tribute sets to Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest.  The 5-piece band, anchored by Daru Jones on drums, absolutely nailed the interpretations of the songs and their sets were amazing.  Questlove even hopped on twitter to say “The Cypher might be the illest hip-hop band.  It would behoove any emcee already established to scoop em now… their attention to sample detail is to a level and standard that I don’t even set!” Those are pretty strong words coming from the mighty afro considering its unanimously viewed that The Roots are top dog in that space. Fans of hip-hop, or music in general…. you need to hear this.

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This was arguably the best concert I went to in 2007… Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge, Casey Benjamin (collectively, the RCDC Experiment) with guests Mos Def, Q-Tip and Bilal.  The loose vibe of the show created a dope atmosphere and everyone on the stage killed.  Q-Tip asked Mos, who was enjoying the show in the crowd, to come on stage and kick a freestyle and of course he obliged.  Hit the jump to hear two of the best emcees trading verses back and forth.

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Common toured with Q-Tip back in ’07 and at the NYC date at Nokia Theater, KRS One joined both on stage for a freestyle session.  As you can imagine, it was pretty crazy to see the three trading verses off the dome together.  Whether or not Common and Q-Tip’s new group, The Standard, actually release an album waits to be seen.  Hit the jump for the audio and video.

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Q-Tip joined the stage with The Legendary Roots Crew at their 2nd annual Okayplayer Holiday Jammy at B.B. Kings last month.  The night was epic featuring a shit ton of special guests, including Pharoahe Monch, Estelle, 88 Keys, Talib Kweli and many others.  Hearing Q-Tip backed by The Roots was one of the highlights of the night, so without further ado, hit the jump to hear “Gettin Up”.

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Q-Tip headlined the 2K Sports Bounce Tour this year in support of his latest release, The Renaissance, and was backed by a full live band and DJ Scratch.  Tip has always been one of the better live performers in hip-hop, and this tour was a prime example of his talents.  This rendition of ‘Electric Relaxation” was the highlight of the show, with the band breaking down the track into some real nice jams towards the end.

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