Jay Dee went in https://youtu.be/wanj_QilBrQ

Wore the hell out of it when it came out. Good memories walking around with it in my Discman.

Even though Dilla worked on this, I don't associate it with him. At least not in the same way I do his work with The Roots and Common that was done around the same time.

i had no issue with Q-Tip switching it up a little.

The shiny suit era took over the previous few years and
there was a clear line being drawn between club songs and the underground.
NaS was doing remixes with R.Kelly.
Puffy and Mase were dancing in their pajamas.

PLUS, The Love Movement wasn't the swan song we thought we were getting.

The hate for Amplified was less about the music and more about (what we thought) was one of our
saviors choosing the other side.

I wish these archives worked cause OKP was in its infancy,
and I'm sure there was a post about it.

>PLUS, The Love Movement wasn't the swan song we thought we
>were getting.
>
>The hate for Amplified was less about the music and more about
>(what we thought) was one of our
>saviors choosing the other side.

That about sums it up IMO. Longtime ATCQ fans had a sour taste in their mouths over TLM, so when Tip continued on that similar trajectory for his solo album, and seemingly sought even more commercial appeal, folks turned their nose at it.

And it was definitely a matter of timing. Because that's around the time that the underground v mainstream thing started to really pick up steam. So folks like myself retreated to their backpacks, while a new generation of casual mainstream listeners blasted "Vivrant Thing" right alongside "Thong Song".

At the time, a lot of us cringed over TLM and Amplified. But I think with the benefit of hindsight, most of us can now appreciate them for what they were and are - which is really good hip-hop with crossover appeal by one of our favorite groups and its leader, respectively. I know I do.

And to the OP's question, Dilla did his thing. Not his best not his worst.

but Let’s Ride was FIRE. So those first two singles didn’t really pull me in, so i initially didn’t really care about the album much. 3rd single was a different story.

I remember hearing most of the album on a car ride back from our HS Senior “skip day”, which is when I came around and enjoyed the album for what it was.

If Amplified comes out in a non-Rawkus world, it probably goes over much better. But between the conscious/underground vs jiggy/commercial split widening and Tribe breaking up, seeing Tip make an overtly commercial album (albeit amazingly produced and executed) felt like a betrayal of Tribe's values and the group's fans.

Looking back at my reaction, I'm more than a little embarrassed that my flawed understanding of hip-hop got in the way of enjoying what is one of the most, if not underrated, then, definitely, overlooked albums of its time.

On another note, it's odd how defensive a lot of hip-hop fans were at that time. Especially since now, there aren't clear walls between underground and commercial. In a way, it seems the younger generations look at hip hop as one big melting pot, kind of how things were early on in the Golden Age.

I mean..it made it absolutely clear that they weren't going to top Midnight Marauders..but I partied off it when it came out..it still sounds good...it definitely didn't SUCK

We were all just being backpacker babies lol.

I still have bad posture from all those backpack years..

Oh trust me I got the heaviest backpack of all time.

I was mad that Money Maker wasn't fit into the album and I turned my nose up when One Two Shit was on the CD because I'd BEEN had the CD single with Oh My God remix, Lyrics To Go remix and One Two Shit so there lmao

anybody knows how to look that up?

Someone back in 2012 posted a compilation of old reviews that Quest posted in the Lesson way back when these albums came out. I miss these days...

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2674970&mesg_id=2674970&listing_type=search

"q - tip - amplified (arista )"

(oops...I think someone's spellcheck was on the fritz when this review was written.) HOW TO REALLY GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS RECORD.....AKA HOW TO ENJOY THIS RECORD..... AKA HOW NOT TO FEEL LIKE YOU DID WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD BR&L, AND THE LOVE MOVEMENT (THAT'S IF YOU DIDN'T ENJOY 'EM)......AKA REASONS NOT TO HAVE UNREAL STANDARDS WHEN LISTENING TO THIS JOINT...........AKA WHEN WILL HE JUST START THIS REVEIW?!?!?!??!!?!?................

dear tip,
hey this is ahmir, remember me? i have to say that i'm really impressed with the new record. well, isn't that always the case? remember when i was all over the top when you rocked beats, rhymes, and life for me in the whip.......if my initial reaction was mirrored by the public then perhaps BR&L would've been your best work (then again when you rocked the rough of the love movement's ''let's start'', and ali's instrumental of ''common ground'' i almost threw up in disgust (at myself of course) in the passenger's seat.......ok it's 4am and i'm talking nonsense.

the night my father was rushed to the hospital you called to see if i was ok, and i do recall saying that i'd be ok........but inside i really wanted to ask you what talent am i lacking that you don't feel the need to include me on this record. seriously. i remember telling you that i'd cut you off if i found myself on the customer end of this record. something: skits, handclaps, one snare.......something. i understand that i'm no jay dee, or d'angelo when it comes to songwriting but i think i can hold some shit down.....ok, i'm getting ahead of myself. this is supposed to be a congratulatory letter in proving my theory all along. that you are better off on your own than in a crew.

after careful observation i recommend that people who are really hell-bent on casting you aside should start with the hidden track ''do it, be it, see it'' (fast forward track 12, and release when you hear silence) it's here that you tell your rollercoster history with hip-hop from beginning to end (however i'm shocked that you mentioned tommy mattola gettin' that hitman to off you for that mariah bullshucks.....).......but i thought it was a peculiar/perfect/vulnerable way to explain your position.

i mean for most of us tribe was the soundtrack of our lives (i was 19 when i copped ''people's instintictive....'') and those w---hang on didn't i already say this in the source?............ ''acting like grown ups''.....such a strange line to pull from an even unlikely source. but this one line really describes the situation that most of us are having a hard time to deal with. tip. you have grown up. paul says in the new testament that when he was a child he acted like a child, spoke like one, and was one.......but now that he's a man he's put away childish things. come april you will turn 30. should we still expect you to have crazy provolactics? in light of most artist's dealing with growing pains (jimi in '70, james in '76, stevie in '84, michael in '95 (however i hear the new shit is bangin?), pe in '94, prince in '93.....)i could go on. i still stand by my word that your ''so called decline'' in music is better than most cat's best moments in radio 1999. i mean what's left? i like this better than forever, and i like it better than on the 6, and will is my negro but this has got more spins than willenium........so what's the word on the street on who your real comp is? mos? tribe? us? nope. most will agree that you are your worst competition. i say you are your worst critic. i know you ''handled'' the disappointment of the public's disdain for the gold lov e movement well. but deep inside you and i are the same and i can't stand criticism specially for something you bled over. so i know in your head you figured that your shit would be better off if you had no one to answer to. i didn't want to hear it. i needed ''footprints 99''......or so i thought. once i saw the ''incident'' backstage between you and phife at the beastie show last year (don't sweat that, riq and i argue worse than that) i knew it was coming to an end. however i never knew you was gonna loop barry white up to be the biggest hit of your career.

so i guess you are aware that most cats 'round here are just waiting to blast this record to smithereens, and i suspect there will be some who don't understand that this record here is the best possible retort to all those spirit's who try to stop you from doing your thing (watch me start to accuse these okayhater's of not gettin no bush for their frustrations).

truth be told (it's an hour later since i started writing) this record is everything i wanted it to be. for starters not a tribe album. for if it was then that would be foul for you to ''john paul jones'' phife off the record. (translation: jimmy and robert plant said that the page/plant project was not a zep reunion, even though they did zep shit, thus frustrating jpj cause they wouldn't let him get in on all that ca$h action) are the beats innovative? hey my opinions of jaydee are borderline suspect round these parts. he's flipped nuff breaks on this record to give primo a run for his loot(p), peep how he flips ''giant steps'' on ''let's ride''.......or him freaking the shit outta kool and the gang's ''nt'' on ''breath and stop''. the rhymes? cats are all goin crazy over ''vivrant's'' lyrics like you were biggie or somethin. ''the rhymes are too simple'' ''it's whack!!!''---whatever, i mean you are the same cat who once rhymed ''if i was working at the club you would not pay....'' again, you are a dope mc. voice and all. that's why i wasn't (and never) expected biggie like miricles for any rhyme that came out of your mouth. (''i learned how to build mics in my workshop class'' vs. ''birthday's was the worst days....now we sip champagne when we thirs---stay!!!! who wins?) i mean your shit is more like an instrument to the bigger picture, than the sole focus.........anyway i'm tryin to figure did i mention something.....oh yeah ignore all naysayers....they're comin ''thought he was a devout muslim and shit'' why is he singin about sex and shit?!?!!?? i dunno this ain't no surprise to me. you been singin about gettin the ass for almost 10 years now, and quite honestly, i dig this stuff. sure some will say you all jiggified, but i'll be damn if puff gonna stat rockin over a track like ''all in'' (probably the funkiest shit you've ever done in eons). so as i close i just wanna say that even without my involvement this record is a great introduction from Q-tip to the world. congrats.......still cuttin you off though....

Good stuff. That line about Tip writing the line "if I was working at the club you would not pay," always bothered me though. As if every Hip Hop lyric needs to be some super clever, hidden reference, incredible string of rhymes or triple entendre. It fits the song and sounds good.

you got a link to that compilation by any chance?

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2674970&mesg_id=2674970&listing_type=search

I'm listening from the web and I lost the CD with the booklet...kinda sounds like it could be Nottz

That's what I liked about the album, Dj Scratch's production fit well with the album, Q-Tip probably had a big hand in engineering the entire album sonically to give it the sound he wanted.

and just to keep it all the way funky...I’ve never really bothered to look up who did which beats on it. Tip is a beast in his own right. Either way, I personally love the shit out of this album.

Half of them don't even know who Slum Village is, some just praise his so-called "donut" era of beats, and the rest ignore his Frank N' Dank & the 5Ela stuff.

Anyway, I'm not sure why people disliked "Amplified", I loved it except for the Korn featured track, the two tracks that Dj Scratch produced was banging as well; I think cause the album was a collaboration of Dilla's & Q-Tip that many of the "johnny-come-lately" Dilla fans don't consider it his production when it's basically is just more polished.

..just because he made an album called Donuts

I'm weird tho

And I think I caught flak at the time for saying this but the Donuts/Jay Stay Paid era isn't the real Jay Dee sound imo (yes I'm aware of the circumstances they were made under and I'm not saying the music wasn't great).
I said the only beat on Donuts that even sounds like his trademark beats is Lightworks. I still love those beats though..One Eleven and Time are my favorites..10,000 Watts..Reality Check..

I don’t think it has that much to do with Dilla

I recall the backlash from having cons on BR&L

Stans were butthurt

...Tip solo tracks were nothing new either ..something just felt odd about the record ...still love it though

and I think that's why it wasn't well received..

it was like he was trying too hard to not sound like the tribe..


and it showed..

i still play it..

@silentintellect

I bump it heavy now though.



*************************************

Fuck aliens

-Warriorpoet415

#2dopebrothersandastackofwax

https://www.instagram.com/bobgeorge87

https://www.instagram.com/thirtythree.three/

The Coming doesn’t sound like an LONS album

Etc

I figure switching it up is just par for the course for the solo debut

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

....but Amplified dropped when hip hop had already deviated from that sound anyway ..I mean, love Movement doesn't really have the tribe feel to me either (maybe a little)

Divide and conquer ain’t nothing new. So many folks act like you can’t jam Tupac and Big. Or Jay and Nas. Or Kweli and Freeway. Or Drake and Kendrick. Or whatever this or that/moratorium on ‘which side you’re on’ storyline gets created and carried on.

I grew up with parents who told me about how they didn’t have when they were growing up. As a reaction, I got into the habit of trying not to rob myself of shit that I wanted to enjoy in general and within reason. And it has worked out well. I was listening to a Drake playlist I made and having a blast. And then I switched over to Roc Marciano. All good times.

More directly topical, I jammed Amplified and that Slum (once I came to OKP and got told repeatedly to check it out). I wish a mfer would try to tell me that Climax wasn’t THE SHIT.

and that might have to do with the fact that I didn’t hear the album till years after it came out so I missed out on any backpacker / Tribe / tip going Jigga, puff... feelings I might have had during its initial release.

I think the album funky and still like to bang it in the whip from time to time.

This is not what Tribe fans were expecting, the people who rave over Dilla beats just weren't in tune with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlZSZq1SlVc

Coming out after the clear shift in hip-hop of 97, Vivrant Thing and Breathe And Stop came off as Q-Tip attempting to go for the LL sex appeal status and the Tribe heads were not feeling that shit AT ALL.

I definitely like the albums and the beats were ahead of their time but it just wasn’t the Q-Tip we all loved.

Was Clive Davis at Arista in 99? I think that might explain some things. He tries to change an artist and he's a marketing genius so Tip probably was trying to see if he could get a radio hit (which Vibrant Thing was). Us Tribeheads probably weren't gonna have it if he made a Tribe-y album without Phife & Ali.

Plus he probably had nothing but dudes at his shows and wanted to get a little more female love lol..

>Plus he probably had nothing but dudes at his shows and wanted
>to get a little more female love lol..

Lolololol

LMAO

*dap*

Half the vocals over his SV production are filthy. How can you be a Dilla fan and be upset about scantily clad women. This is revisionism (also pretty sure he was just called Jay Dee back then, so even moreso).

Lastly, I was a Tribe fan and I loved Vivrant Thing. Impossible to believe I was alone.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

I don't know the nitty-gritty details, but I associate the production on this joint (along with BRL and The Love Movement) with *The Ummah*, not Jay Dee. the music on all those albums, while good, sounds muted and muffled to me, for lack of better terms.

despite being absolute beasts in their own right, Dilla and Q-Tip collaborating on production somehow makes them LESS than the sum of their parts. IMO, of course.

there are some real bright moments on Amplified, but it ultimately didn't move me like I expected it to. haven't revisited it in a while, tho.

Speaking of The Ummah.. I wasn't there to say who did what but if someone can clear this up..

*some* of the songs credited to The Ummah like Got Til Its Gone remix or Lucy Pearl Without You remix have been said to be Jay Dee solo productions ..

Which makes me wonder about some songs

Which ones had Tip co producing..or solo producing..and likewise for Jay Dee..which song's did he NOT have anything to do with..im confusing myself but you know what I mean lol

Dilla's on record pretty much saying this kind of confusion is why he wanted out of the collective.

Tip talks quite a bit about how people think Dilla did the Craig Mack remix or Vivrant Thing, and people thought he did the Brand New Heavies song and Janet Jackson song. Early on people thought Ali was doing the Tribe music and all that, but it wasn't a case where people weren't getting paid because whatever song a Ummah member did, they got the money for it

Amplified isn't 'bad' per se. (Nothing Dip or Tip touched was ever 'awful'.)

But this album left little impression on me upon its release and twenty two years later, leaves little impression now.

I'd say that this is the plainest Dilla/Tip release in their entire discography.

Again, not 'bad', just not eventful.

different track, but you reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LmwXNutZ2E

I've just never seen anyone go hard for that album like they do Fantastic and Donuts

-----------------------------

my music: www.soundcloud.com/jessewarren
my mixes: www.mixcloud.com/jessewarren
my label: www.fb.com/mettamuzik

Lol

that's a good questions. i think a fair amount of us really appreciate that album.

-----------------------------

my music: www.soundcloud.com/jessewarren
my mixes: www.mixcloud.com/jessewarren
my label: www.fb.com/mettamuzik

I revived the album earlier this week and I had forgotten how dope Star 69 is..

I feel that it’s one of the first, along with Stankonia, “larger than life” type of albums that Kanye gets all the credit for. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy somewhat followed the blueprint that EC laid out with the varied production, infusing various genres and the big guest spots that play more of a major role in the album than just a feature.

I listened to it recently as well and that was my take away. Really dope album.

..it's definitely a step ahead of what the same team did on LWFC.

Comm/Dilla/?uest deserve the credit Kanye gets. EC was way ahead of its time.

I loved it at the time and appreciate it more now for these exact reasons.

And like OK said in response to you, it still sounds dope as hell and fresh *today*. The production is so lush and unique.

tho, honestly, I don't expect my reaction to it to be much different than back when it dropped. I appreciated the willingness to "go there," but it just seemed weird for the sake of it rather than toward any particular aim. turned me way off.

(all that being said, 'I Am Music' is legit one of my favorite songs ever)

and just for context, I don't rock with Kanye stuff either.

I liked that it pulled from different sources and was more introspective and vulnerable than what Common showed in the past.

But for as good as the album is, it's missing *it*.

I think Phrenology and Stankonia and I guess My Dark and Twisted Fantasy did the highly experimental albums but accessible albums better. But I think EC was even more daring than those albums.

For as daring and lofty as the concept of the album is, it rarely hits that high mark. It's probably harsh to criticize the album for trying something new and remarkable. Maybe even more so for faulting it for simply not being as daring in the predictable way we wanted.

But I really dig I Love Music and Soul Power. I Am Music especially.

>But for as good as the album is, it's missing *it*.
>
>I think Phrenology and Stankonia and I guess My Dark and
>Twisted Fantasy did the highly experimental albums but
>accessible albums better. But I think EC was even more daring
>than those albums.
>
>For as daring and lofty as the concept of the album is, it
>rarely hits that high mark. It's probably harsh to criticize
>the album for trying something new and remarkable. Maybe even
>more so for faulting it for simply not being as daring in the
>predictable way we wanted.

I sort of agree with you, specifically re: Phren and Stank being more accessible than EC, but also that EC took more chances.

But I'd say that the highs on EC are super high, while the lows are equally as low. Soul Power, Aquarius, The Hustle, New Wave, I Got a Right Ta, Between Me You & Liberation, I Am Music .. all very high highs IMO. Electric Wire Hustle Flower, Come Close, Jimi Was a Rock Star, all insanely low lows IMO. Swings and misses. Then there's Star *69 which is just a miss, not terrible but not really good.

Just sounds like a pleasant song - hard to attach "insane" to it in any way.

And Be isn’t the “return to form” for Com lyrically.
One could argue LWFC was more style over substance lyrically and EC he went back in with the pen,

>And Be isn’t the “return to form” for Com lyrically.
>One could argue LWFC was more style over substance lyrically
>and EC he went back in with the pen,

Very very well said. He was FAR superior lyrically on One Day ... than he was on LWFC. LWFC is just a better album sonically. EC was a sonically risky effort but you nailed it, he went back to straight spitting on EC and I think that's a big part of why I always had a high level of appreciation for it even if it was hit or miss compared with his 3 previous albums, all of which I think are near-perfect.

He was still spitting on Be too, it was only a "return to form" in terms of the safe production. That isn't to say it doesn't deserve the critical acclaim it gets, I think it does. I just hate that Comm himself, as well as critics and many fans, use Be to directly and indirectly denounce EC.

Re: how hard he was spitting during the EC era, there's a Sway freestyle he did during that time period that I used to have saved on an old laptop that is soooo so so dope. I can picture it in my head now (even tho I remember none of the bars lol). But he's dressed in that EC-era garb and just so clearly in a fucking *zone* while he's freestyling. He has the whole studio mesmerized. I wish I could find it. Anyway I only bring that up because I always thought that that freestyle was a good visual example of why folks should take EC more seriously. He was rapping his ass off on that whole joint.

>One could argue LWFC was more style over substance lyrically

There are obvious songs like Funky For You and The Questions that fit that bill but I feel like your statement kinda reducing LWFC lyrically. That album contains some of his best songs lyrically in my opinion. Time Travelin’, Dooinit, The 6th Sense, Nag Champa, Geto Heaven, A Song For Assata...

So I agree that he did blend the best of both worlds with style and lyrics on LWFC but I don’t think enough to call EC a return to form lyrically.

I think to say "LWFC is more style over substance" is overstating it, for sure. It'd be more appropriate to say that it's equal parts lyrics and production/style. Which is to say, it's nearly perfect.

I just think he came harder lyrically, overall, on EC as well as One Day ... than he did on LWFC. And again that's not to say LWFC is weak lyrically. But you nailed the songs that come to mind when I'm comparing LWFC to his other great albums - Funky For You and Questions. I LOVE Funky for You and have come to appreciate Questions, but I don't think One Day or EC has any of those types of tracks. So it's a step below lyrically, even if it's still top notch at parts.


>>One could argue LWFC was more style over substance lyrically
>
>There are obvious songs like Funky For You and The Questions
>that fit that bill but I feel like your statement kinda
>reducing LWFC lyrically. That album contains some of his best
>songs lyrically in my opinion. Time Travelin’, Dooinit, The
>6th Sense, Nag Champa, Geto Heaven, A Song For Assata...
>
>So I agree that he did blend the best of both worlds with
>style and lyrics on LWFC but I don’t think enough to call EC
>a return to form lyrically.

Great project...a time when Common was still deep into being creative with his music...

yep