Tribe

And now for something completely different.

Today we’re going to flip the script well away from the dark and depressing and move into the world of hiphop.  First up is one of the greatest groups to come out of Manhattan, the Tribe Called Quest.

Michael Rapaport’s 2011 documentary “Beats Rhymes and Life:  The travels of a Tribe called Quest” documents the beloved rappers tracing back their roots to the group and how the whole thing started.

It’s a dope retrospective that’s made with a sortof sober style that gives it a foundation as a serious film.  The story of tribe is pretty well known, they all hooked up in the mid eighties dropping their first album in 1990 with four subsequent albums coming out over the decade.  Nearly all of them I would consider classics now save for maybe the Love Movement.  I remember in college I would have days where I’d put on the first 4 albums and listen to them back to back, all day long.

Now it’s nearly 30 years since their inception and Rapaport was right in his timing to make a focused documentary.  It’s funny seeing them all grown up, until now the dudes from Tribe were always the scrawny kids with quick one line interviews in hiphop documentaries.

It’s a pretty interesting story, naturally there’s the beef with q-tip who’s kinda a bitch in my opinion, but whatever that’s what happens with most long running groups.  Overall though, I’d say check this doc out if you’re a fan, it’s really fun to watch, if you’re anything like me you’ll be pretty well captivated by the nostalgia of it all, singing along with the tracks as they play in the background, remembering how much you were into that track or that album.  Let us not forget that hiphop was actually really good music once, check it out for a refresher in what once was...