Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Director: Michael Rapaport

Documentary/98 min. (2011)

 April 27 & 28 at Tribeca Film Festival

Appears in theaters nationwide July 8

Titled after an album of the same name by one of hip-hop’s most influential groups and presented as more of an open love letter than history lesson; Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest premieres next week at the Tribeca Film Festival as the directorial debut from longtime actor Michael Rapaport.  Rapaport, who is best known for the distinct New York vibe he brings to roles on film and TV (Bamboozled, Friends), captures that essence onscreen as he retraces the journey that led the three members of ACTQ—Q-tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad—from their very humble beginnings in Queens in the early nineteen-nineties to worldwide stardom.

In the film, Rapaport weaves vintage video footage with candid, personal interviews where in addition to commentary provided by industry peers such as De La Soul, Prince Paul, and Large Professor, the childhood friends vigorously recount their experiences in establishing a cornerstone for hip-hop by infusing their music with jazz and a need to be different. However, Rapaport pulls no punches in chronicling the seething (and at times heartbreaking) backstage tension between Q-tip and Phife, catching the two nearly coming to blows with each other during a reunion for the 2008 Rock The Bells tour.

Still, despite the bickering that goes on between the two leads, Rapaport does an excellent job in presenting his subjects in a multi-faceted package. Beats, Rhymes & Life, as the title suggests, is not only a film that encapsulates an important piece of music history but it is also a film that adeptly highlights the ups and downs of life, as well as what it means to be family.