The Renaissance

After a grueling, nearly decade-long period of label shelving and unreleased projects, the legendary A Tribe Called Quest frontman finally issued his sophomore solo effort. Largely self-produced with a heavy emphasis on live instrumentation, warm jazz-funk samples, and Dilla-inspired drum programming, the album features appearances from Norah Jones, D'Angelo, and Raphael Saadiq. It was universally hailed as a triumphant, graceful return to form for the veteran MC.