Kamaal the Abstract is not a great record by any means. But it is an interesting one, a unique effort by an artist struggling to mesh two disparate musical systems, gambling that inherent internal friction could spark some excitement. Unfortunately, the road to 6.3 is paved with experimental intentions. Kamaal the Abstract first leaked at the beginning of the decade, the follow-up to Tip's solo debut Amplified. While the status of the latter record has only grown in the ensuing years, thanks largely to Dilla's rise as a cult production hero, Kamaal's nature as an experimental cul-de-sac feels more cemented with time. But the ink never dries in the history books; if anything, the 2000s may have finally given Kamaal and Kamaal an opportunity for creative redemption.
The collision of jazz and hip-hop, of course, isn't a new concept, especially for an artist who worked with Ron Carter on Tribe's second LP. But with Tribe, never mind Digable Planets, Guru, or US3, incorporating jazz often felt like more of a stylistic affect than concrete engagement, just a couple of looped bars and a brief instrumental solo from a big name on a track outro. Since bebop revolutionized jazz in the 1940s, attempts to integrate the genre with pop forms have been risky. Tip's pops used to say hip-hop reminded him of bebop for a reason; at their best, jazz and rap both feature interconnected conversations and content being generated over a short time in their parallel worlds. But rap music's complexity is tied up in language, the melodic and harmonic aspects stripped down so as to focus the listener on the verbal. Post-bebop jazz usually hinges on harmonic complexity.
Kamaal the Abstract, to its great credit, is unafraid of (messily) combining these values. Tip seems to have focused primarily on jazz's harmonic intricacies, evident on opener "Feelin'" or "A Million Times", which are unafraid to eschew pop song structure to get at the meat of what makes post-swing jazz harmonically interesting. But sometimes this nuanced backdrop sounds an off-note for the subject matter; while a bunch of ideas were going on in any Tribe-era Q-Tip verse, Tip's redundant boilerplate womanizing over Steely Dan-style chord changes on "Heels" just doesn't fit. Even worse, Tip's singing throughout the record -- a shallow signifier for this more "soulful" approach, perhaps? -- feels unnecessarily cautious. Very Andre 3k.
But jazz gets shortchanged, too. For the most part, the solos feel safe and not particularly notable. Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel's presence followed the release of an exciting, adventurous solo LP The Next Step, so it's confusing to hear his cameo reduced to rhythm guitar on the extended, platitudinous jam "Do You Dig U?". Even the incredible Kenny Garrett, who does get an extended solo feature on the stop-start funk “Abstractionisms,” seems to be holding back. It feels like the soloists were so conscious of the album's pop music concessions, they felt they had to dumb it down, afraid to cut loose, as if they were recording for “The Late Show” or a random studio session. Despite Tip's willingness to combine the stylistic approaches of jazz and hip-hop, many songs feel imbalanced this way, with potentially exciting material undercut by underwhelming performances or half-finished ideas. It is worth recognizing that the Miles and Mizells of the world were extraordinarily rare. Few artists could perfectly balance of jazz's intricate complexity as a live performance with lightning-in-a-bottle pop perfection as a piece of recorded art.
Which is why "Even If It Is So" is such an accomplishment. With a simple repeated piano vamp over acoustic guitar, the song features the rapper riffing compassionately about single motherhood alongside a memorable horn hook. The music perfectly reflects the song's theme of subdued respect, the incredible beauty of strength in the most harrowing situations. It also leaves you wanting more, the kind of song you'd love to hear extended and embellished, perhaps in a live setting. Which is the key to this record's possibility; each track is a loose framework of unfulfilled promise. There's been a lot of talk about the growing importance of the live show to artists in the RapidShare era. While Kamaal isn't the brave, experimental success it wants to be, it doesn't exactly feel like the cul-de-sac it once did. It suggests a promising future, where the world of live shows offers Q-Tip and these soloists a chance to stretch out, while recalling their roots in entertainment, which isn't so evident here.
