Film Review: Hip-Hop Gets Personal in ‘Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest’

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CHICAGO – Fueling his passion for hip-hop, director Michael Rapaport premieres his new documentary, “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest”. Proving that show biz never changes despite the category, this is a backstage look at the triumphs, misunderstandings, fall and rise again of the rap group “A Tribe Called Quest.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

It all comes down to the human beings trying to create in a cooperative, and basically this document exposes a brotherhood gone a bit sour, given the trappings and distractions of the very fame they sought to create. For hip-hop neophytes, this is an essential chronicle of the time, when A Tribe Called Quest rocketed to the top of their game, turning rap on its ear with a bold direction. For fans and genre admirers, it gets inside the group members themselves as they struggle to make sense of it all, including the relationships that have been left behind.

Q-Tip (Kameel Ibn John Fareed) and Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor) were childhood friends from Queens, New York. The rhythms and pure musicality of the streets were their lure, and it was Q-Tip who convinced his friend Phife to join in with the MC/DJ street phenomenon. Teaming with DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White (who left after the first album but returned later), “A Tribe Called Quest” was born. The name of the band was suggested by the “Jungle Brothers,” a group that went to the same high school as Phife and Q-Tip.

On the strength of a five song demo, ATCQ eventually signed with Jive Records. Several classic albums followed, including “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,” “The Low End Theory,” “Midnight Marauders” and “Beats Rhymes & Life”. With their mix of jazzy loops, characteristic lyrical content and connection to the “Native Tongues” movement, ATCQ touched a nerve in the emerging art form and obtained mega-success.

But with that success came the backlash. Citing personal and record label issues, the group split after 1998’s “Love Movement.” The documentary traces the roots of A Tribe Called Quest, the success and the split. ATCQ has since reformed for various tours post the millennium, and their catalog continues to be a direct inspiration for the evolution of hip hop artists.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest”

Phife Dawg, Q-Tip and Jarobi White in Concert from ‘Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest’ Photo credit: © Sony Pictures Classic

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest”