Q-Tip, lead rapper
for A Tribe Called Quest, has signed a deal with Motown Records and has already
started recording a new album.
According to Billboard, the rapper was previously signed to DreamWorks, but
plans for an album were scrapped.
DreamWorks Records
was sold to Universal Music Group for around $100 million in 2003.
His last album Amplified
yielded the hit song “Vivrant Thing.” He attempted to put out a
non-rap album under the alter ego Kamaal the Abstract, but the album never materialized.
In related news, Tip and
producers Rockwilder and Hi-Tek have signed a deal to produce exclusive wireless
beats and 30-second “songs” for BlingTones.
In 2003, ATCQ’s former label Jive Records released Hits, Rarities
& Remixes, a slew of remixed Tribe songs like Buggin Out, Award Tour,
Bonita Applebaum, and Check The Rhime.
ATCQ has attempted to reunite and performed several times as a group last year.