Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest is a documentary film directed by Michael Rapaport about one of music’s most influential and groundbreaking pioneers in hip hop. The story is told by the members themselves as they reunite after two years during the 2008 Rock the Bells tour to deliver sold out performances . On the tour they re-discover that their own personal differences may overpower their love for the group, countless, hard-core fans, and its ability to survive the pressures of fame, the record industry, and simply pursuing other interests in life. Rapaport, himself a hard core Tribe fan from the first album, panics when Q-Tip tells him “ this could be the last show” after mounting tension erupted at the event in San Francisco. Thus, begins a journey to go back and appreciate the huge contributions made by Tribe to the “whole structure of hip hop” as stated by Amir from the Roots, one of the many artists in the film influenced by Tribe’s unique sampling and layering of obscure jazz loops mixed with hip hop beats, as well as their playful but clever lyrics. Chronicles told of songs like “Scenario” and “Check the Rhyme” paint a vivid picture of what it was like coming up in Queens as young folks living and breathing hip hop in the early nineties.
http://www.atribecalledquestmovie.com/the-film/
Starring: Michael Rapaport, Dante ‘Mos Def’ Smith, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Common , Pharrell Williams (II)
Directed by: Michael Rapaport
July 8
