Grammy award-winning, hip-hop pioneer Q-Tip hits the road this summer on the Rock the Bells tour in support of his highly-anticipated new album “The Renaissance” due out on September 9 via Universal Motown. The tour, which will only play on weekends, begins July 19 in Chicago, IL and winds down on September 6 in George, WA. The legendary MC will take the stage with his live band and EMPD’s DJ Scratch to perform his latest material and dip into his previous solo release, 1999’s “Amplified,” which spawned the hits “Vivrant Thing” and “Breathe & Stop.”
Q-Tip toured this past fall to sold-out audiences nationwide and received glowing reviews from critics for his electrifying set. “Q-Tip sounded terrific throughout the show: loose but fierce, an endless fount of energy,” raved The New York Times.
Q-Tip will also return to the stage at the end of each Rock the Bells date with fellow A Tribe Called Quest band members, Phife Dawg & Ali Shaheed Muhammad, to perform the classics that introduced his unique vocal styling and lyrical insight to the masses. The Abstract, as Q-Tip also refers to himself, first rose to prominence in 1988 as one of the founders of the group whose cerebral wordplay and intricate fusion of jazz and other genre-bending influences changed hip-hop’s lexicon forever.
Q-Tip offered audiences a taste of the new album last year when he performed a few of the songs while on the road. The album features special guests Norah Jones, Pharrell, Spike Lee and D’Angelo. In addition, in one of the songs the rapper also sampled parts of one of the speeches by presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, who Q-Tip supports.
Q-Tip itinerary:
(Dates subject to change)
| July 19 | Chicago, IL | First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre |
| July 20 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Arrow Hall |
| July 26 | Boston, MA | Tweeter Center |
| July 27 | Columbia, MD | Merriweather Post Pavilion |
| August 2 | Miami, FL | Bicentennial Park |
| August 3 | New York, NY | Jones Beach Amphitheatre |
| August 9 | San Bernardino, CA | Glen Helen Pavilion |
| August 16 | San Francisco, CA | Shoreline Amphitheatre |
| August 23 | Denver, CO | Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre |
| September 6 | George, WA | The Gorge Amphitheatre |
