Q-Tip

Born Jonathan Davis, the distinctively nasal-voiced MC/producer founded A Tribe Called Quest in 1988 with fellow high-schoolers Phife and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Releasing five acclaimed albums over ten years, Tribe led a jazz-based hip-hop revolution espousing positive lyrics and intelligent wordplay. Throughout the `90s, Q-Tip also worked as producer and mentor for a handful of upcoming artists (Mobb Deep, Nas, Jay Dee/J Dilla). A year after Tribe's 1998 break-up, he presented his solo debut, AMPLIFIED, a more pop-oriented, genre-bending effort, to a mixed reception. Mired in label entrapments, Tip saw three subsequent projects shelved before returning in 2008 with his triumphant second official LP, THE RENAISSANCE.

• hip hop/rap