Q-Tip was not only A Tribe Called Quest's front man, he was also, remarkably, their chief sonic architect. He branched out to production on albums like Nas's Illmatic and Mobb Deep's The Infamous. He also formed The Ummah with protégé J Dilla and Tribe's Ali Shaheed Muhammad—the collective produced Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, among others. More recently, Tip produced Kanye West and GRAMMY® winner Esperanza Spalding.