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

We all owe freshman director Michael Rapaport a shout-out of thanks for delivering the feel-good movie of the summer, BEATS, RHYMES, AND LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST. It's not just one of the best documentaries about a hip-hop group; it's one of the best documentaries about a music group.

No actually it's really one of the best documentaries period. I think it's safe to say that Michael Rapaport will wind up with Banksy's seat at next year's Oscars and hopefully with the trophy Banksy should have exited through the theater with.

Given award tour access throughout ATCQ's 2008 reunion tour Rapaport operates in a comfort zone as a fan first and a filmmaker second. How big of a fan is Rapport? He knows that Jarobi deserves as much time as Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad because even the true heads will want to know what happened to him.

Rapaport's confidence in his camera skills allows him to share his excitement and joy equally with his audience and he keeps the party moving by sticking to the music, nostalgia, and most important the respect.

Sure, the recent conflict between Q-Tip and Phife gets some screen time, but only when it becomes a dominant part of the story. For some reason the strife has been prevalent in most of the publicity leading up to the film's release.

That is essentially false advertising since BEATS, RHYMES, AND LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST is a celebration of one of the most innovative and influential groups in music. You can't stop smiling and nodding your head while ?uestlove, Pharrell, and Common discuss how The Low End Theory changed the game or when Prince Paul complains that he wasn't invited to the Midnight Marauders album shoot.

Speaking of which, that classic gets its expected comedic tribute when a President's Day Sale ad for Seaman's Furniture busts off on the screen. Not one to let this party stop, Rapaport even takes a shot at a happy ending by reminding us all that "if you got the money Quest is for the booking" is still true to this day.