Sickness and snow kept me homebound today, so I’ve been catching up on some downloads from the past week. At the top of the heap is this masterpiece tribute mix by J.Period paying homage to the man Q-Tip, who’s instant classic The Renaissance album topped my list of favorites from last year.

My fondness for the Abstract Poetic’s music goes back to People’s Instinctive Travels, and it’s safe to say dude is one of the most influential artists in my humble little life. J.Period’s mix pulls together classic Tribe breaks, Tip verses, cameos, remixes and all kinds of other good shit to create one of the dopest mixes I’ve heard in a long, long time. And as a long-time Tribe fan, this shit really made my day.

If you haven’t already checked this out, GET. ON. IT. NOW. (Hint: those are all various download links, so try whichever suits your fancy).

BuhbOmp‘s own Cashless has this to say about it in a review he wrote for Hater Magazine:

There’s an old saying about how we should give someone their flowers while they’re still alive or something like that. I’m paraphrasing, but it seems like I haven’t heard this good a send-up of a living artist since … well, never. J-Period pulls out all the stops in paying tribute to one of the most transformative figures in hip-hop — and that’s a conservative statement. Matching the game-changing nature of the subject matter, Q-Tip and his legacy, the mixtape’s incredible composition, structure and production aesthetics are heretofore unparalleled. There isn’t enough space here for me to express how much you’re fucking up by not having this in heavy rotation right now!

Bonus (from Cashless): Earlier today on Twitter, Q-Tip and I shared a mild-mannered exchange of opinions. It seems however, that we both had the same point of view and I was employing out of pocket, non sequitur logic per usual. Let’s enjoy, shall we?

Q-Tip: ok ! this is easy for me.. radiohead? [link to YouTube video of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android] coldplay! [link to YouTube video of Coldplay’s The Scientist] easy!

Me: Did @QtipTheAbstract just imply that Coldplay is better than Radiohead?! Crazy talk revealed! Just stick with the hip-hop for now bruh.

Q-Tip: @cashless are u nutso??? what a creep u r! [link to Youtube video of Radiohead’s Creep]

Me: @QtipTheAbstract I’ll be a creep, I won’t listen to Coldplay though. Advantage: @Cashless

Me: @QtipTheAbstract I’ll fall back if this is somehow related to an inside joke. Play on playas. However, will not retract Radiohead > Coldplay

Q-Tip: @cashless ummmm… we all vote for head homie….c’mon

(Oddly enough, I had an almost indistinguishable Twitter exchange with Amanda Diva on Grammy night for her bigging up Coldplay and calling Radiohead’s live performance of 15 Step, “cacophonous”. Sorry, but in that situation, invoking “crazy talk” was well beyond warranted.)

In the middle of my exchange with Q-Tip, he sent this message to all of his followers: “cant do the inside joke things with the community u are the only one who fucks with me.” Could this all have been an inside tweet that I intercepted and got all Perez Hilton -vs- Noreaga with it? Could Tip’s Coldplay-versus-Radiohead posts have been intended for Amanda Diva, who is featured on Q-Tip’s song, “Manwomanboogie”? Regardless, I still greatly respect Q-Tip for the music he’s made in addition to being one of the most valuable contributors to the hip hop community and Black music at large.

Final note: I don’t want it to appear as if there was an actual beef or that Q-Tip is a bad guy. In fact, he sent me a direct message saying that everything was all in fun and that he would correctly pick Radiohead over Coldplay.

— Cashless