Amplified

1	Wait Up 3:43
2	Higher 3:30
3	Breathe and Stop 4:03
4	Moving with U 3:22
5	Let's Ride 4:07
6	Things U Do 4:06
7	All In 3:08
8	Go Hard 3:02
9	Do It 2:51
10	Vivrant Thing 3:11
11	N.T. 3:54
12	End of Time / Korn 8:33
13	Do It, See It, Be It

Barnes & Noble

Unlike many first solo recordings by members of famous groups, Q-Tip's AMPLIFIED doesn't sound like a tossed-off side project. Instead, the former leader of A Tribe Called Quest has invested his sly, low-key personality into 13 tracks that sound like the beginning of something new and fresh. The Abstract Poetic, as Tip is affectionately known, offers a lean and infectious set of songs. While most of the cuts have a muscular bounce like the stellar head-nodder "Things U Do," there is a genuine musical sophistication to these tracks that goes well beyond the percussive clutter that predominates on today’s most popular hip-hop. AMPLIFIED is full of hard and punchy dancefloor stormers charged with keyboards, jazzy guitar licks, and fresh bass lines that buzz in hypnotic merriment. Yet even when backbeats swell, they never overwhelm Tip’s undiminished rhyme skills. In addition, the recording is very well paced; moods change from the shiny-happy sound effects of the smirking, booty chaser "Let’s Ride" to the resolute bass-bump of "Go Hard," but the miles-deep groove is never disturbed. By "End of Time" toward the end of the disc, the mood even edges toward doomsday hopelessness as Tip and Korn's Jonathan Davis trade cynical verses over menacing guitar riffs in a surprisingly rocking affair. Tip’s lyrics are rarely as introspective as his earlier work, but on the hidden track, "Do It, Be It, See It," he offers a revealing career overview that includes a glimpse into Tribe’s recent breakup. It’s a fitting ode to the Tribe chapter in Tip’s career as much as a resounding acknowledgment that he has caught an inspired second wind on the solo tip. Martin Johnson

All Music Guide

Just over a year after A Tribe Called Quest issued its final album, the group's nominal frontman Q-Tip issued his debut solo album, Amplified. For Tribe fans able to get over the fact that Q-Tip isn't trading off on rhymes with Phife Dog and Ali as usual, Amplified is an excellent work, almost up to the same level as the group's underrated final Jive album, The Love Movement. The sound here is very similar to The Love Movement, obviously no coincidence since production credits throughout go to Jay Dee and Q-Tip for the Ummah, the same combo that produced most of A Tribe Called Quest's material. It's a style that emphasizes deep grooves and clipped beats with a polished sheen that takes Tribe's jazz-rap into the age of quiet storm and fusion. Q-Tip's rapping is as smooth and inventive as ever, though it's a mild surprise that he doesn't include any message tracks (most Tribe albums have at least one or two). The band's breakup was a blow to hip-hop fans all over the world, but Amplified will make everyone feel much better. John Bush