It’s hard to quantify just how important A Tribe Called Quest is to hip-hop music, but the group stood apart from the harder edged gangsta rap of their contemporaries. The group were a singular act among their peers and, more anecdotally, if you need to liven up a party, “Can I Kick It?” is guaranteed to get everyone moving.
Anyway, the group disbanded following 1998’s “The Love Movement” citing label woes, and their story has never really been told but leave it to actor Michael Rapaport (!?) to get the job done. The actor was been working on a documentary about the group entitled “Beats Rhymes & Fights” (a riff on their album “Beats Rhymes & Life”) that seems to cover a lot of ground including the band’s early days, their reunion, internal conflict, Phife’s illness as well as the requisite talking head commentary. It actually looks like it could be pretty good.
A trailer/sizzle reel has dropped for the project and it seems like a pretty thorough look at the band and their history. We’re definitely eager to check it out. At the very least, we hope it schools some of those young whippersnappers today as to what the real shit is because some of the stuff that passes for hip hop today is ridiculous. Check out what Rapaport has been making with his checks from “The War At Home” after the jump. [Vulture]
Al the way to Sundance with this one! Looks great.