Urban music review: Q-Tip: The Renaissance

The spirit of the age has finally caught up with Q-Tip. The Renaissance is at least the fourth album that the mercurial leader of the pioneering rap group A Tribe Called Quest has recorded in the past decade, but only the second to have been released. It feels timely: the hip-hop world has been transformed by those who owe a debt to Tribe, whether acknowledged (OutKast, Kanye West, the Roots) or not (Lupe Fiasco). And Q-Tip's messages - "It's up to me to bring back the hope," - chime with its election-day release. Cloaking its eclecticism with a homogenising sheen, the album's frequent changes of mood and direction dazzle. There's golden-age hip-hop on Move, piano and P-funk bass on You, and loud rap of the highest quality on Won't Trade.