Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times	(favorable)
Pitchfork Media	(8.4/10)
Q
Slant Magazine
Spin	(8/10)
The Village Voice	(favorable)

The Renaissance is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Q-Tip, released November 3, 2008, on Universal Motown Records. The follow-up to his solo debut album, Amplified (1999), it was recorded after Q-Tip's Kamaal/The Abstract (2009) was initially shelved in 2002 by his former label Arista Records and his proposed effort Open was shelved by Universal Motown, both deemed commercially inadequate by the labels.The Renaissance was produced primarily by Q-Tip and features guest contributions by D'Angelo, Norah Jones, Amanda Diva, and Raphael Saadiq.

The album debuted at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 34,219 copies in its first week. It produced three singles and has sold 131,200 copies in the United States. Upon its release, The Renaissance received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised Q-Tip's lyricism and production aesthetic, and earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album.

The album is Q-Tip's second released studio effort, following his solo debut Amplified and the 2002 shelving of Kamaal/The Abstract. Q-Tip put together a band for recording The Renaissance. In an interview for Billboard magazine, he discussed his musical direction for the album, stating "I wanted a hip-hop sonic feel, something pure to the sound of hip-hop with real drums, real emotion and people taking solos… In that sense this record feels like we're moving in a new direction … something hip-hop should do". Production for The Renaissance was primarily handled by Q-Tip, with the exception of the J Dilla-produced "Move." The album also features contributions from such artists as Norah Jones, D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq and Amanda Diva. The album cover art features Q-Tip in a silver suit holding an MPC2000XL in front of his face.

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