Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe… Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
2011 Directed by Michael Rapaport
Synopsis
Having forged a 20-year run as one of the most innovative and influential hip hop bands of all time, the Queens NY collective known as 'A Tribe Called Quest' have kept a generation hungry for more of their groundbreaking music since their much publicized breakup in 1998. Michael Rapaport documents the inner workings and behind the scenes drama that follows the band to this day. He explores what's next for, what many claim, are the pioneers of alternative rap.
Cast
Genres
Popular reviews
More-
I'm a sucker for pretty much any music doco, and having missed a lot of the hip hop movement in my teens I was looking forward to discovering more about one of the key players of the time. I was most interested in the early years; the people they were in contact with, how they came to making albums, the transition into relative fame and success... and in this part it delivered. The last two albums were given a fairly cursory look, and toward the end it maybe dwelled a little too much on Phife, his illness, and the falling out between he and Q-Tip. You can't ignore tensions that exist in a group like this — and I wouldn't…
-
A competently made yet overlong film documenting the relationships, egos and general whininess behind the stage antics of this game-changing American hip hop act. My “y’know what I’m saying” meter is broken beyond repair.
-
Tribe have always been a shameful hole in my Hip Hop knowledge. I was down with their fourth album 'Beats, Rhymes and Life' but pretty much everything before that, other than the big hits of course, has been a mystery to me - until now! The first half of this doc is a genuinely fascinating look at how the members met, how the group came to be and some insight into the birth of their particular style. New York actor turned documentary film maker Michael Rapaport gets some frank interviews from the group and you get to see who those guys really are when not up on the mic - especially Phife Dawg. When the beef comes the doc takes a sad turn and, despite the eventual reunion, never really recovers. Anyway, enough of this - I've got some records to buy.
-
As a fan of A Tribe Called Quest, I absolutely loved the film. It feels like a proper bookend to the group’s wonderful career. The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest does a good job of showing why the band was so influential in the world of hip hop. The inner turmoil of the band has been well documented but it was still nice to hear it directly from the group's mouth. The documentary will not convert newcomers into becoming fans, but there is still enough hear that will engage even those who have never heard of the group before.
-
If ever there was a hip-hop group worthy of its own documentary, it's a Tribe Called Quest, whose turbulent trip from the school yard (Q-Tip and Phife Dawg forged their inimitable chemistry as childhood buddies) to the stadium encompasses five aesthetically evolving albums (two of which, 1991's The Low End Theory and 1993's Midnight Marauders, are unimpeachable classics), internal bickering and one of the saddest splits in hip-hop history. The squabbling between the boho, experimental Tip and the trad-rap, blue collar Phife is certainly a key element of actor / hip-hop head Michael Rapaport's directorial debut (and one which caused the Abstract Poetic -backed up by band mates Ali and Jarobi- to take shots at Rapaport and his project prior…
-
I loved this documentry. Maybe I'm biased as I'm a huge hip hop and jazz fan though.
Recent reviews
More-
Perhaps THE quintessential hip-hop documentary. Director Michael Rapaport manages to capture the ongoing rift between Q-Tip and Phife without judgment while simultaneously piecing together a movie about the lasting impact of hip-hop in the early 90's. Deft documentary filmmaking with much respect for Tribe's complicated and dynamic personalities.
-
This get s a lot of love, I didn't really feel it, I guess if you are a fan it shows you something you really wanted to see, but other than that it's not particularly interesting, I guess the story is, but since I didn't connect with any of them I just didn't care.
-
There has been a fair amount of controversy since the wrapping up of this documentary, with accusations from the group being thrown at Rapaport’s production company. What they shouldn’t be blind to is the obvious affection he has for the group and the music, a sentiment shared by so many of us around the world.
This is a documentary first, as there has never been a documentary based on a rap group, which is surprising given some of the world renowned ground breakers that have come and gone, such as Run DMC and Public Enemy. I had been itching to see this since I heard about it last year and at the time hearing Michael Rapaport’s name associated with it…
-
Originally published on July 20, 2011.
To say that Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest will only appeal to devout fans of the eponymous hip-hop group is a bit of an overreach, but they will no doubt enjoy the documentary far more than unacquainted fellow viewers. For laymen, the movie is a bit more of a labor -- it takes a lot of warming up to, but is not without its rewards in the end.
The reason there will be such a disparity in audience reactions, contingent upon viewers’ prior relationship to the band, is that the first two acts of the film do not provide a whole lot of reason to care about the players…
-
Tribe have always been a shameful hole in my Hip Hop knowledge. I was down with their fourth album 'Beats, Rhymes and Life' but pretty much everything before that, other than the big hits of course, has been a mystery to me - until now! The first half of this doc is a genuinely fascinating look at how the members met, how the group came to be and some insight into the birth of their particular style. New York actor turned documentary film maker Michael Rapaport gets some frank interviews from the group and you get to see who those guys really are when not up on the mic - especially Phife Dawg. When the beef comes the doc takes a sad turn and, despite the eventual reunion, never really recovers. Anyway, enough of this - I've got some records to buy.
-
Provides a look right into the group's heart, while also touching on the history of hip-hop in general, especially the Native Tongues movement. Feels really genuine.
-
Really enjoyable Doc about A Tribe Called Quest.Before watching The film I had no idea about the internal conflict within the group.It was a really interesting journey into lives and careers of the members of one of The Greatest Hip-Hop Groups of all time.
-
As someone with a more than casual knowledge of Hip-Hop I was fairly familiar with A Tribe Called Quest, even if they weren’t exactly my favorite rappers in the world. Their albums like Midnight Mauraders and The Low End Theory are indeed classics of sorts, but I don’t think they eclipse the works of other groups around that time like Eric B. and Rakim, Public Enemy, and Gang Starr. Consequently it seemed a little strange to see the many talking heads in this documentary treat the group like it was the second coming of Mozart or something. Of course what really matters here is the film’s exploration of the group members and their personal dynamics, and that’s interesting when it…
-
ATCQ are my favourite hip hop group so I've been looking forward to watching this for a while, unfortunately it's more of a history lesson and broad overview rather than something that gives you any real incite. It's only really the last 45 minutes or so that feels like it gets under the surface. It feels like a missed opportunity, with a bit more thought from the film makers it could have been really fascinating.