Kamaal/The Abstract - Lyrics

Lyrics

Kamaal/The Abstract contains introspective lyrical themes. Opening with the album's only rock chord, the opening track "Feelin' It" is one of the album's few tracks with him rapping and it contains one verse about common life experiences and hassles. It introduces Q-Tip on his way to a recording studio, during which he is stopped by a police officer who profiles him: "This profiling cop with his profiling ass / Figured the best thing he could do was find a cat to harass. / The little kitten was me, not that one in the tree / The black one with the promise and the wish to be free". The lyrics are based on an experience that Q-Tip had with a policeman. John Murph of Jazz Times interpreted the song's verse as a metaphor for Q-Tip's struggles for absolute creative freedom without resulting in critical backlash. Tiny Mix Tapes's Brendan Mahoney interpreted the "profilin' cop" in the song as "another mundane and too-predictable distraction in a world full of them". On its relation to the album's theme, Mahoney wrote:

Kamaal is an album about sidestepping the cop and avoiding pettiness; the man is determined to overcome, any way he can. If that means letting the music speak for itself, then Tip doesn’t rap. —Brendan Mahoney

Songs such as "Blue Girl" and "Heels" demonstrate Q-Tip's female-identified perspective on Kamaal/The Abstract. "Do U Dig U?" has philosophically minded lyrics that deal with existential detachment. "Barely in Love" concerns the powerful nature of love with lyrics about two lovers that are together based on physical attraction. The album's closing track, "Even If It Is So", is an ode to single parenting and discusses a hard-working mother.