Review of Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (2011) by Zack F — 19 Jan 2012

I never thought of "A Tribe Called Quest" this way.

BEATS, RHYMES, & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST (Michael Rappaport, 2011) chronicles the history of Tribe, from their founding through their breakup and subsequent reunion, and all of the trials and tribulations along the way. Though the classical lineup of Tribe includes four members, the movie makes it clear that the heart and soul of the group are Pfife and Q-Tip (though they claim Dorobi is, and I forgot that Dorobi existed). Childhood friends, Tip and Pfife have been through everything together, both good and bad, and I found it interesting how they both equally made the group what it was, ala Chuck-D and Flava Flav or Slash and Axl Rose (their groups don't truly exist without both of them). They make A Tribe Called Quest go, and luckily for Tribe, still do to this day. The documentary is very comprehensive, discussing the Native Tongues and all of the groups that comprised them, Pfife's health issues, and the various tensions in the group. Rappaport gets interviews with people we now know as giants of Hip Hop and that era. And this is what fascinated me the most.

I don't know what to make of the nineties much of the time. Factually speaking, it was a very significant portion of my life - I wasn't fully conscious throughout the entire eighties, so one would think that the nineties would be my period. But when I look back on the nineties, there's something all too immediate and real about them to have the same nostalgic reverence the eighties have. What struck me about this documentary, for example, was that I never thought anything of this group or any of these videos as I watched them on Yo! Mtv Raps or Rap City. I never thought, "this will be a classic someday, so significant that somebody will make a documentary about it." Instead, Tribe was just one of many groups that had songs while rap was nailing down its identity. Notice I said "songs" and not hits, because it never occurred to me that Tribe were as popular as it turns out they were. I knew the West Coast acts were popular, but these hippies, or as they now call them, "backpackers"? I remember part of the East-West beef being the disappointing numbers on Brand Nubian's album, so I assumed they had a select audience (of people who constantly argued that groups like them were "real" Hip Hop), not the millions they do here. But they sell out stadiums, and I do know a lot of their songs, so it shows what I know.

But again, I feel like the reason this was so strange to me is because I was a part of it. I was not a part of the eighties, at least the adult part. The cartoons, yes, although because they were produced by the mainstream adult world, I still felt like they were "above" me somehow. But Tribe's videos, like I said, came on the video shows I watched, and I felt like I was one of the few people who actively knew and could name their stuff, who produced them, who was in the group, etc. Because I was a part of it, it somehow blows my mind that it meant anything to anybody else, and that these people are important now, the way the Beatles or any other big mainstream group are important. So strange.

Moreover, I'm stunned at how long ago that was. I feel like I just blinked, and all of a sudden this is nostalgia. Michael Rappaport clearly loves A Tribe Called Quest. Enough has happened to them to fill a "Behind the Music," and yet to me, they're just another rap group. They're not "historical" to me, they're just Tribe.

This documentary proves me wrong. This group, the "latest" in this "new thing" called "rap" have made their mark in music. They influence others, and us kids who used to listen to them are now old enough to have kids who will complain about that "old people's music". Tribe grew up and so did I. I'll be damned.