Release and Promotion
Q-Tip began recording for the album after being signed to Arista Records by record executive Clive Davis. However, he was left to lobby the progressive project to Arista's new administration after Davis left the label. Originally scheduled for an October 23, 2001 release date, and later pushed back to April 23, 2002, the album was shelved by Arista, doubting its commercial potential. It was originally set to be released with the title Abstractions, which served as the title for the album's promo LP (2001). In an interview for The Village Voice, Q-Tip discussed his label history and the release of the album, stating:
Well, I was on Arista, and I was there with Clive Davis. They were about to kick him out of Arista, and he called me and was like, 'Q-Tip, you need to come to J Records. I have an artist by the name of Alicia Keys, and you and her would just be great'. And I really wanted to go there because I thought Clive was a visionary; he definitely is. I was telling him about the band I wanted to do and stuff like that. And then Lyor Cohen, who runs Atlantic, used to be with Def Jam, used to manage us, and he called me and said, 'Q-Tip, you're crazy if you fuck wit' Clive. You need to fuck wit' LA '. So me listening to some stuff that I thought was sage advice, I did that, stuck with LA. I did an album, Kamaal the Abstract, and he dug it. It went out to press. People were really liking it. It was, at the time, some other shit, and I guess he just got cold feet. —Q-TipOn his feelings towards its shelving, Q-Tip has stated "I am really disappointed that Kamaal wasn't released. LA Reid didn't know what to do with it; then, three years later, they release OutKast. What OutKast is doing now, those are the kinds of sounds that are on Kamaal the Abstract. Maybe even a little more out. Kamaal was just me, guerrilla". While it did not receive an official release, advanced promotional copies made their way into the public, leaking to the Internet.
In 2006, Q-Tip announced that he was in negotiations to regain control of the album from Arista/BMG and planned on officially releasing it in 2007. On July 1, 2009, Jive Records announced that it would release the album through its Battery imprint. The U.S. compact disc release was issued with the bonus track "Make It Work", and the double LP release was that song and "Damn You're Cool". The track "Barely in Love" was issued on September 1, 2009 as the album's first single.
Read more about this topic: Kamaal/The Abstract
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