WTF moment of the week- Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

At work locked into some local College radio (KSJS 90.5) and who is it that I am hearing dropping mental on the state of Hip-Hop and Hoops...Phife Dawg, the 5 foot assassin, aka the Analyst, of the legendary-- A Tribe Called Quest.  Anyone that loves music-- hiphop, alternative, indiepop, country, any DJ can drop a few verses from their endless playlist.  Included in some of Phife's commentary was the developments of their long-running documentary- Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest by actor turned filmmaker Michael Rapaport.

The nearly 3 year long doc covers some of Tribe's shows since their fabled performance at Rock the Bells in 2008 and sports a who's who in 90's hip-hop and beyond from Monie Love, Large Professor, De La Soul, Beastie Boys and others-- talking on ATCQ's game-changing style and approach towards their artform.

Love, love, love some of the brilliance captured in a crazed-fan-kind of way (Rapaport is a spaz!) on Tribe's musical influence as told by some of their contemporaries especially the always entertaining Too $hort.  Who drops an analogy on Bonita Applebum and its intended message like only he can.  Yeah, with zero finesse- grabbing b*tches elbows.  



Beats, Rhymes and Life...was well received at the Sundance Festival despite Phife being the lone Tribe member to rep among the rabid critics, film-goers and longtime fans.  Suppose that I have been somewhat out of the loop within the inner-sanctum of hip-hop as I didn't realize there has been a feud/beef between Q-Tip, Ali-Shaheed Muhammed, Jarobi and Michael Rapaport. 

Sway of MTV did a solid job of getting one side of the story from Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed and Jarobi (funny shit that he was there via conference call) .

MTV Shows

Despite all of the drama which seems to be some pretty wack, ill-shit pulled by Rapaport-- this does nothing to tarnish the legacy that has made each member of ATCQ like living-legends and on the same level of innovation in their genre with Nirvana, Wu-Tang and fuck it..The Beatles. Yeah I said it.  Looking forward to catching this piece of music history on one of the biggest musical influences in my life.

Sony Classics Pictures has since picked up the North American distribution rights to the film and Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest will be premiering in NYC for the appropriately named Tribeca Film Fest, next month with a theatrical release expected later in the year.

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big O