Q-Tip, The Renaissance

If any musical subgenre needs a rebirth, it's underground hip hop, which has been sounding awfully anaemic this decade. The title of his new album suggests that Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest fame, is the man to deliver it. The Renaissance easily trumps his 1999 solo debut, Amplified , but it's less a bold step forward than a return to the old Tribe aesthetic. Everything flows effortlessly, from the unaffected, soulful production to Tip's mellifluous rhymes. (Even when he's talking nonsense, as on the funky 'Won't Trade', it's a pleasure to listen to him.) No bad thing, but no brave new era for hip hop either.