DX: You passed the torch to Busta Rhymes, symbolically on the “Scenario” LONS remix in the ‘90s. Was there a connection between that and your recent collaboration “You Can’t Hold The Torch” a few years back?
Q: Busta wanted to do that song. I just guested on it; that was his concept, and it was hot.

DX: Back in 1998, you described an encounter with Jesse Jackson Jr. and gave the following quote, “In a minute you’ll have people running this country talking about, ‘Yo Run-DMC was the shit. I remember Treacherous Three.” It’s starting now. You got Hip Hop lawyers, writers and journalists…’” As an Obama supporter, can you describe watching that come to fruition?
Q: It was inevitable. You have the potential for the next President of the United States to be a Hip Hop head. It has some relevance, because that means that somebody has connected, in some way, to the experience of the African American people of this country – the struggle, not only the struggle to survive, but the struggle to find ourselves, find integrity, and that’s what we did through Hip Hop. I think Barack Obama’s life is represented to me in a very [Hip Hop] way in a post-Vietnam [War]/sexual revolution era. Coming up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when crack cocaine epidemic [occurred], Hip Hop, Punk Rock, it all came out of that. It’s inevitable – there’s probably gonna be more to come. In 10 to 15 years, the Prime Minister of Canada is probably gonna be a big Cypress Hill head or somethin’. It’s inevitable that this’ll happen, the same way that I’m sure George Bush was probably listenin’ to Alabama and “Elvira” [by Kenny Rogers and First Edition] and shit. Same thing.

DX: A lot of people associate your solo music and Tribe’s music with happiness, or relief. However, a lot of that music was made during troubled times for New York and the world. Could you comment on that?
Q: I guess…I think we just had an idea of what we wanted to do, and we just let the music dictate those ideas. We tried to be too deterred [by what was going on]. Whatever came out of the music, was what it was.

DX: I put on “Find A Way” [click to read] recently on the turntable when I had some people over for 4th of July. My man said he wanted to get married to that song. Ten years ago, you promoted The Love Movement. When you hear things like that, how much do you think you’ve given Hip Hop help in how to love, and how significant is that today?
Q: Wow. Thank you. I was just saying this yesterday: love is the most powerful emotion that we have. Even more than hate [or] sadness. Love is what motivates people – good love – you’ve got bad love too, but it’s just a very powerful emotion. It’s more important now than it’s ever been, and it takes practice. I believe in love.

DX: Very few performers in Hip Hop have performed outdoors as much as you have over your career. It’s raining here in Chicago right now, with plans of continuing. In all the years, were there any wild performance memories in really challenging weather?
Q: Yeah, yeah. One time we was touring we was touring with The Fugees in Phoenix, Arizona. It was crazy!

DX: Rain?
Q: Like a hurricane. We were outdoors. Lauryn [Hill] was on stage, and she was doing somersaults and shit. It was thundering and lightning, and they were performing “Killing Me Softly,” [click to read] while the lightning was [occurring]. It was quite poetic. [Laughs] It’s gonna rain all day?

DX: I don’t think so. They said three times. Now. Two pm. Six pm.
Q: Wow.

DX: Weather.com.
[Q-Tip laughs]

DX: You’ve got a really extensive catalogue. Let’s say, as you’re walking from this dressing room to the stage, a die-hard fan requests a deep-cut, we could even say “Go Ahead In The Rain,” [click to read] how able are you to perform joints like that?
Q: [Laughs] I don’t know. [Laughs] It varies. I might have to listen to it for a refresher course. It’s hard to remember a lot of tunes.

DX: Does that happen?
Q: It’s happened on occasion. We politely ignore them, because we get old and don’t remember like we used to. [Smiling]

DX: Is there a point where you don’t feel like performing older songs much?
Q: It depends. It depends what fits the set. You try to set the vibe with music. You make the music to perform it, no matter if it’s 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago, but you have to fit it into the musical tapestry. Nothing is off limits.

Additional Reporting by Jake Paine.