What ever happened to our hip-hop stars? Jay-Z spends more time in the office than Donald Trump, Ice-T’s mug is on the tube solely because of Law & Order: SVU reruns, Eminem’s immaturity doesn’t dazzle anymore, and Ice Cube went from Boyz n the Hood to Are We There Yet? A lot has changed in the past decade or so, which makes it even more comforting to know that after all these years Q-Tip still hasn’t lost his swagger. Riding the wave of critical acclaim from 2008’s The Renaissance, Q-Tip rolled into town Friday night to perform at the House of Blues for the ongoing Bacardi B-Live tour. Braving $10 Bacardi drinks and detached freeloaders was a small price to pay for hip-hop heads who got the drop on free tickets that were offered online.

Joining the former A Tribe Called Quest member onstage was a live band backed by turntable virtuoso DJ Scratch. An epic boombox served as the backdrop for the stage, with huge visual screens serving as speakers. The second Q-Tip’s distinct voice crept up on  “Johnny Is Dead,” and DJ Scratch asked to crowd to put one finger in the air for J Dilla, I knew it was going to be a memorable nostalgia-fueled show. The rapper skillfully rhymed low-key jazzy A Tribe Called Quest numbers and neo-soul selections from his solo albums while the band brought the funk in the form of deft bass guitar solos, beatboxing, and a tolerable dose of Auto-Tune. The crowd got amped up on “Let’s Ride,” a bit crazy on “Bonita Applebum,” and absolutely lost its marbles on “Scenario”. Q-Tip remained lively and energetic throughout the set, feeding off the energy of the crowd. At one point, he did his best James Brown impression as he crouched onstage and a band member came over to cover him with a towel. To close the night, the Queens native went with the Norah Jones-backed “Life is Better.” As the song blared, he climbed speakers and jumped into the crowd, getting audience members to sing into the microphone. Before calling it a night, Q-Tip energized the crowd by yelling “Sing it like your president is from Chicago!” A decade ago, if someone told me that Q-Tip would still be awesome in 2009 and a black man would be president, I would have laughed. But, I guess some things change, and some things stay the same.