Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed (born Jonathan William Davis, April 10, 1970), better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and DJ. Nicknamed The Abstract, he is noted for his innovative jazz-influenced style of hip hop production and his philosophical, esoteric and introspective lyrical themes. He embarked on his music career in the late 1980s, as an MC and main producer of the influential alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. In the mid-1990s, he co-founded the production team The Ummah, followed by the release of his gold-certified solo debut Amplified in 1999. In the 2000s, he released the Grammy Award-nominated album The Renaissance and the experimental album Kamaal the Abstract.
As an actor, Q-Tip has appeared in various films such as Poetic Justice, She Hate Me and Prison Song, the latter of which he co-wrote and played the lead role. As a DJ, he has hosted the Apple Music 1 radio show Abstract Radio since 2015. In 2016, Q-Tip was named the artistic director for hip hop culture at the Kennedy Center, and in 2018, he became the instructor of a jazz and hip hop course at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Q-Tip is one of the most acclaimed figures in hip hop. John Bush of AllMusic called him "the best rapper/producer in hip-hop history", while About.com placed him #17 on their list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Producers, as well as placing him #38 on their list of the 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time. In 2012, The Source ranked him #20 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.
1970Apr, 10
Q-Tip (musician)
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Events on 1970
- 12Jan
Nigerian Civil War
Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian Civil War. - 28Apr
Richard Nixon
Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia. - 5Sep
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins: The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province. - 28Sep
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack in Cairo. Anwar Sadat is named as Nasser's temporary successor, and will later become the permanent successor. - 8Oct
Richard Nixon
Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a manoeuvre to deceive world opinion".