If you want to understand why Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip have continued working together over the years, and more importantly, why that is such a good thing, take a quick look at their 1992 performance with the rest of A Tribe Called Quest and the Leaders of the New School on the Arsenio Hall Show. It's a raucous atmosphere from the second Ali Shaheed Muhammed drops the beat, but it's Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes in particular that raise the energy to a whole new level. With "Yo Mr. Busta Rhymes, tell em what you did," (and the love tap to go along with it), Tip throws up an alley-oop for Bussa Bus to slam home. The Abstract sets the stage, the beast is unleashed, and the crowd goes nuts. The two are stylistically a match made in heaven, one rapping barely above a whisper, the other RAWR-RAWRing like a dungeon dragon. It would have been a shame for this incredible tag team to stop after "Scenario." Luckily, they revisited this chemistry several times throughout the years, and it is all here for your enjoyment on The Abstract and The Dragon.
Before we continue any further, let it be known that The Abstract and The Dragon is by no means a full-length album of new material. This is a true mixtape, and much of its focus lies in covering all of the songs they have created together over the past 22 years. The fact that these two have agreed to release classics of theirs for free in addition to some really impressive new stuff, as they both prepare to launch studio albums of their own in the upcoming year, is very generous. Whether it's made for radio hits like the Pharrell produced "For The Nasty," or lesser known gems like "Lightworks," a recording that finds them rapping over a J Dilla beat from Donuts with Talib Kweli, the tape corrals all of their past efforts and puts them all in one convenient place. There is a real sense of camaraderie between these guys, and it seems as though whenever they get together in the studio, their main goal is to impress each other.
This release is more than just a retrospective, however, as they remind us that they haven't lost a step since their Native Tongues Posse days. "Thank You" is the clear highlight here, a soulful groove that sees Q-Tip display the kind of chops that have made his fast-rapping partner in crime famous. Speaking of partners in crime, we also have "Butch & Sundance," a hard thumping triumph that dismisses potential competitors ("Do it together, do it forever/ Bust grand, imperial rhymes, finish billing your crimes/ Oh shit, another verse, get in line first/ For what it's worth, did it all, did it first"). Other notable tracks include the determined "We Taking Off," and the remix to "Renaissance Rap," which also features Raekwon and Lil Wayne. They even take some time to rewrite history, as Busta mentions, "I always wanted to rhyme on this shit," before adding his own verse on A Tribe Called Quest's "God Lives Through," a song that already samples his voice.
At the end of "Get Down," another new offering, Busta Rhymes yells, "Ayo, engineer, cut the fucking beat off! Ayo, Kamaal, what the fuck are we doing this shit for man?" He puts on a giant show as Q-Tip gets lost in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. You get a sense from listening to these two legends pal around that they genuinely enjoy making music with each other, and this is not something they had to do under contractual obligation, but rather something they wanted to do to commemorate and add to their outstanding body of work. While a project full of completely brand new songs will probably never come to fruition, The Abstract and The Dragon is a welcome Christmas gift from one of the rap industry's greatest odd couples. Download from 2dopeboyz.com here.
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