Q-Tip, lead rapper for A Tribe Called Quest, has signed a deal with Motown Records and has already started recording a new album.

According to Billboard, the rapper was previously signed to DreamWorks, but plans for an album were scrapped.

DreamWorks Records was sold to Universal Music Group for around $100 million in 2003.

His last album Amplified yielded the hit song “Vivrant Thing” He attempted to put out a non-rap album under the alter ego Kamaal the Abstract, but the album never materialized.

In related news, Tip and producers Rockwilder and Hi-Tek have signed a deal to produce exclusive wireless beats and 30-second “songs” for BlingTones.

In 2003, ATCQ’s former label Jive Records released Hits, Rarities & Remixes, a slew of remixed Tribe songs like Buggin Out, Award Tour, Bonita Applebaum, and Check The Rhime.

ATCQ has attempted to reunite and performed several times as a group last year.

credit: billboard.com