i can't find the post point me in the right direction and delete this...
and if not...
Lets discuss folks.
It opened in NY and LA this weekend

http://www.sonyclassics.com/beatsrhymesandlife/



I loved it, i cried...a bit but its nostalgic for me. Rapaport did an excellent job.
I absolutely could not stop reciting lyrics and i couldn't stop nodding my head.
I recommend it, go see it.
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

I liked it. As a doc it's alright...but if you're a Tribe fan it's great.

~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

At first all the drama and controversy turned me off to it, but now that it's actually playing and people are saying good things, I'm interested.

Dug Rappaport's interview on The Sound of Young America recently, too.

>At first all the drama and controversy turned me off to it,
>but now that it's actually playing and people are saying good
>things, I'm interested.
>
>Dug Rappaport's interview on The Sound of Young America
>recently, too.


http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/michael-rapaport-actor-and-director-interview-sound-young-america

I imagine he's too busy to hang around on here that much these days.

couldn't ask for anything more. plenty of laughs, great cameos, I also had a hard time not nodding my head violently and reciting lyrics

actually just peeped a screening here in NYC courtesy of Questo who bought out the entire theatre and tweeted out the invitation. awesome stuff, great night and highly recommended

>actually just peeped a screening here in NYC courtesy of
>Questo who bought out the entire theatre and tweeted out the
>invitation. awesome stuff, great night and highly
>recommended

today was a rest day for me
it was definitely worth seeing again

and yes! i was nodding and reciting lyrics how could you not!
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

i will see the film in seattle later this month, but i also got my hands on the sundance version.

>got my hands on the sundance version.

your welcome

*saying prayers*

http://www.nypress.com/article-22620-the-hip-hop-divide.html


Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Directed by Michael Rapaport
Runtime: 95 min.
Remember the movie Brown Sugar? Of course you don’t. That’s because its premise—the culturally unifying love of hip-hop—is not, in itself, sufficient to sustain a movie. The same problem occurs with Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. Director Michael Rapaport (lead actor of the interracial jungle fever movie Zebrahead) professes his generational love of hip-hop without the doc-making “skills” to explain why hip-hop transformed global attitudes toward black youth or why ATCQ personified universal hipsterism during the same era that mainstream media was lionizing grunge. This rift signaled the beginning of pop music’s still-existing cultural fragmentation. ATCQ suffers a more personal rift.
Beats, Rhymes & Life flubs both histories, a misperception summed up during an interview with Barry Weiss, the head of Jive Records recording label (one of the boutique companies like the wonderful Profile Records) who gambled on hip-hop’s success. Weiss recalls ATCQ’s impact as “aduration.” His malapropism combines “admiration” with “adulation,” the peculiar circumstance of hip-hop’s ethnic and artistic revolution during the 1990s. Rapaport’s gaffe similarly mis-appreciates this revolution. Beats, Rhymes & Life gives a cursory view of ATCQ’s story. The film isn’t sufficiently detailed or probing to explain how Tribe fit into the moment of hip-hop’s zenith (they debuted after Public Enemy and De La Soul created the genre’s masterpieces) or how Tribe’s distinct, quasi-jazz sound was part of an cultural renaissance that illustrated a new, African-American grassroots intellection, typified by the Native Tongues collective that included ATCQ, The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Leaders of the New School and Busta Rhymes.
Tribe’s music takes a backseat to power struggle and personality conflict. Group leader, Q-Tip (Jonathan Davis) and co-lead rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor) were both soft-voiced hip-hop-heads but their subtle differences—sartorial cool vs. streetwise wit—created an unspoken rivalry. Rapaport captures the flare-up long after the group had disbanded and Phife had undergone medical problems—they clash during a 2008 Rock the Bells reunion tour.
Unable to explore psychology, personality or aesthetics, Rapaport has no story to tell. Anvil: The Story of Anvil is the great document about the unifying love of pop music, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster had moments of stark, clear conflict. But Beats, Rhymes & Life is hardly more than a video scrapbook—one with uneven lighting and amateurishly blurry camerawork. Fatally, no unifying structure means it lacks a beat, rhyme and life. Best to revisit ATCQ’s several inventive music videos (especially Scenario and Electric Relaxation), the finest documents of a movement.
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

http://www.ebertpresents.com/movies/beats-rhymes-life-the-travels-of-a-


~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

I'm happy someone made this and told the story of arguably the greatest group in hiphop history. A reminder of how much classic material they have and how massively talented Q-Tip is. (Raise your hand if you didn't know for a long time that he produced the first 3 albums? I was a huge fan and thought that Ali Shaheed made the beats).

On the flip - why start the film with the beef? That's such a small part to a bigger story. It happened after they were done recording music. That was just an attention-grabbing move and I can see why the guys wouldn't be pleased with it.

Also the two biggest omissions to me were Scenario + Dilla.
1) Pre-Scenario ATCQ were seen as jazz rap or even worse alternative (aka white people) rap. They were grouped with US3 or Arrested Development. Post-Scenario they were embraced as so-called "real" hip-hop. That's a huge turning point in their career that got no mention.

2) Dilla wasn't a dude who threw them a few beats. He was part of the group, at least the Ummah production team and brought a new sound in (for better or worse) and produced the lead singles on both Beats, Rhymes & Life + Love Movement. You don't even give that 2minutes of your movie? Sad...

>I'm happy someone made this and told the story of arguably
>the greatest group in hiphop history. A reminder of how much
>classic material they have and how massively talented Q-Tip
>is. (Raise your hand if you didn't know for a long time that
>he produced the first 3 albums? I was a huge fan and thought
>that Ali Shaheed made the beats).
>
>On the flip - why start the film with the beef? That's such a
>small part to a bigger story. It happened after they were done
>recording music. That was just an attention-grabbing move and
>I can see why the guys wouldn't be pleased with it.
>
>Also the two biggest omissions to me were Scenario + Dilla.
>1) Pre-Scenario ATCQ were seen as jazz rap or even worse
>alternative (aka white people) rap. They were grouped with US3
>or Arrested Development. Post-Scenario they were embraced as
>so-called "real" hip-hop. That's a huge turning point in their
>career that got no mention.
>
>2) Dilla wasn't a dude who threw them a few beats. He was part
>of the group, at least the Ummah production team and brought a
>new sound in (for better or worse) and produced the lead
>singles on both Beats, Rhymes & Life + Love Movement. You
>don't even give that 2minutes of your movie? Sad...

is it only in limited release right now? i might have to wait until it's out on dvd.

~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

saw it in Georgetown earlier and it was dead. Looked like 12 people in the theater.

I enjoyed it.

I agree it could have had more of the music.

Nevertheless...

Got to the car and immediately put on "8 Million Stories."

>Got to the car and immediately put on "8 Million Stories."

i was in the theatre and realize i didn't bring a single song with me
i spent the week making up for that
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

I wouldn't have minded more time spent on Dilla's contribution, and maybe 2mins on the Consequence thing (anyone notice how during the credits he presented himself as "I am Consequence, from A Tribe Called Quest"). But I thought the doc struck a good balance between the music and the band relationship issues. A little frustrating to see these great artists "talk" to each other through the medium of film, but regardless you get some great insight on why the band broke up, yet will always be there for these guys.
The audience I saw it with (Landmark theater on E. Houston in NY) was really into the film, which always makes the movie-going experience better, so I would definitely recommend trying to catch it in theaters if you can.

Leaving the theater I was wondering if we could ever get a similar treatment for the Wu Tang, how awesome would that be.

http://blog.melanism.com/2011/07/15/movie-of-last-week-beats-rhymes-life-the-travels-of-a-tribe-called-quest/

It’s hard for me to review Beats, Rhymes and Life because of how the documentary made me feel. Every time I started to piece together what I would write about this movie, I got lost in my feelings of nostalgia for A Tribe Called Quest and being a hip-hop fan in the 90′s. A Tribe Called Quest was my favorite hip-hop group growing up. This was probably the first documentary I saw where I found myself either saying to myself, “I remember that” or “I did that” or “I remember what I was doing then.” There’s a scene where ?uestlove talks about the date Midnight Marauders was released and I thought about a recent post I wrote about cutting art class to buy it and listening to it on the bus ride home. I remember trying to tape the Red Alert show to catch the newest shit (seeing how old Red Alert looked now made me feel real old).There were magazines I owned, photo shoots I remember, concerts I wished I had gotten a chance to attend. This was a cinematic trip down memory lane.

As a fan of Tribe Called Quest, it was sad to see Q-Tip and Phife go at it while Ali Shaheed Muhammad and sometimes Jarobi just watched and shook their heads but I’m glad I did see it. When they broke up, I always knew there was some conflict but not to the extent that we saw (although there was a lot of he said/he said).

I think Michael Rappaport did a great job for a first time director (some of his camera angles and lingering close-ups showed his inexperience). There were things I wish were discussed (“Scenario”, more on how the Midnight Mauraderscover came together, the origin of the red, green and black woman on the album covers) but I’m just nitpicking. This was a great love letter to the group and to 90’s hip-hop culture as a whole and can’t wait to see it again.
-------------------
<---YOU OUT!

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On Tuesday in Shirlington, Va (for those that know) Busboys and Poets hosted a free discussion where a panel and the audience discussed the doc. Jarobi was there- he happened to be in town over the weekend and extended his stay to attend.

Somebody mentioned why Q tip's fire wasn't covered; I thought about it too while watching it.

Jarobi mentioned that Q tip tried to draw a positive from it by thinking that it was a time to start anew and recreate.

>Somebody mentioned why Q tip's fire wasn't covered; I thought
>about it too while watching it.
>
>Jarobi mentioned that Q tip tried to draw a positive from it
>by thinking that it was a time to start anew and recreate.

Did we ever get the real story on that? I know he lost alot.

>On Tuesday in Shirlington, Va (for those that know) Busboys
>and Poets hosted a free discussion where a panel and the
>audience discussed the doc. Jarobi was there- he happened to
>be in town over the weekend and extended his stay to attend.
>
>Somebody mentioned why Q tip's fire wasn't covered; I thought
>about it too while watching it.
>
>Jarobi mentioned that Q tip tried to draw a positive from it
>by thinking that it was a time to start anew and recreate.

i'm thinking there need to be a doc about Q
but that might just be my fandom flaring
maybe a behind the music
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

That whole sequence when Tip was bitching about Phife to Maseo and Ali's standing against the wall with this look on his face like "yup, this shit again."

Highly recommend this for anyone that's ever been a Tribe fan. I personally would have liked more in depth stories about specific songs/albums as well, but it probably would have weighed down the film too much. But I could seriously use an entire documentary on Low End Theory, lol.

And I agree with everyone else when I say I don't see why the guys were so upset at this. Nobody comes off as looking bad or the catalyst of the break up. Tip and Phife are very different personalities and it was only so long that those two could coexist in a group. I guess it was inevitable, and it's neither ones fault.

is not what many of the fans - or even the general public - want to see so much of.

Phife is hilarious. The Supremes and J5 bits had me crying laughing.

Q-Tip, when discussing the breakup, gave a lot of political answers. If he complains that the film "doesn't tell the whole Tribe story", he is partially to blame for that.

I'm assuming "Scenario" isn't heard (or mentioned!) anywhere in the film because of clearance issues against its inclusion in the film.

The technical aren't the best - editing is a little shaky in places, and one of ?uesto's interview clips was show with the camera on auto-white balance, and veered from setting to setting during the course of the filming. And I've seen far better blow-ups of video to film (or video to 2K, as I assume the masters are all digital in this case) in regards to the archival footage. But that's the media nerd in me nitpicking.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/beatsrhymesandlife/dates.html

Phife is funny as hell. Tip came off at times egotistical but he is such a musical genius that I could understand why he would have an ego. It did seem like Tip struggled with his fame and keeping the group harmonious. At times his one for all and all for one attitude came off as being disingenuous. Also given their apparent differing work ethics it is surprising they lasted as long as they did. One hell of a trip down memory lane for me watching this movie.

1) the Wrecks N Effect 'New Jack Swing' Beef

2) Dilla and the formation of the Ummah

3) The Fire at Tip's spot (what I call the Tommy Mottola incident)

All said, its a beautiful doc and I'm glad they talked about and included folks from Native Tongue.

And I'm not going to bother complaining about what wasn't covered, because it's a waste of time and any such complaints would result in a 3+ hour film. And while I love Quest to death, I think we can all agree that that wouldn't necessarily be fun to watch.

Rapaport did a fine job, considering that 2/4 of the group was more than willing to be open and honest with their thoughts and feelings

Or at least it came off that way to me, which is why it feels like there's so much more to the story that some aren't telling

I will also say that anyone who watches this then comes away saying something like, "Aww, Phife is just jealous of Q-Tip" wasn't really paying attention.

I thought it was a nice, emotional nostalgia trip... very good...

_________________________________________________________________________
twitter.com/LetsStay2Gether

also on Facebook

Back for 22 mo' -- January 2012

HAI HATERZ

Or the group. It was touched on in the doc that he was a reluctant star. I also feel that to a certain degree that he feels entitled to a lion share of the credit. I also think that he grew "tired of carrying Phife". It was awesome to see the family dynamic they all had get soured by the business. Good shit. I'm gonna try and catch it this weekend again.

the small things that people feel are glaring omissions (the wrecks n effect beef? really?) does nothing to further the narrative.

how were they going to weave that into the story?

i loved how each member of the group played their parts beautifully. rappaport did a great job and it made people who didn't even know about tribe understand the whole movement.

my girl doesn't know much about tribe aside from what i play at the crib. she's not from the US and is younger than me so she didn't really understand that certain movement. even after that film she fully understood what tribe stood for in hiphop. she even said that she felt love for them after seeing them in such a vulnerable place.

she even misquotes phife's first 4 bars of "buggin out". it's awesome.

4 out of 4.

"she even misquotes phife's first 4 bars of "buggin out". it's awesome."

That shit got me dying!

It doesn't rate when you think about Death Row/Bad Boy and all that bullshit, but Tip was literally walking around wearing kevlar vest off of that shit. We got a lot of background on Phife in the film, but we really only hear about, Q-Tip, 'Artist'.

But don't take that as me saying it detracted from it...I love this film.

I mean it really is a very small footnote in the history of the group. Even if Tip was walking around scared, no one really pumped this up nationwide. I don't know, maybe it was an NY thing.

Most people I know even from back then don't even remember that beef all that well. And Wreckx was such a flash in the pan that it really doens't register.
______________________________________________________________________________

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"
-George Clinton

shit, which, like it or not, was what Rapaport was clearly interested in

And to ignore that silly Wreckx n Effect bullshit is not some kind of blow to the legacy or history of the group

_________________________________________________________________________
twitter.com/LetsStay2Gether

also on Facebook

Back for 22 mo' -- January 2012

HAI HATERZ

that beef was so NOT major that niggas ain't even know about it until like 5 years after that shit happened.

also again. how are they going to fit that into the overall narrative?

qtip would go "yeah we got into a minor ass beef with a rap group who you wouldn't recognize even if they called your name so you can pick up your tall chai latte with foam".

how?

cause me and my girl were the only ones in the theater :(
but goddam i was nodding the fuck out, recitin all lyrics out loud
im surprised they didnt go more into the record label drama
and was it me or did busta seem just like a fan meeting his idols and not a part of the movement.

http://thefindmag.com/?p=6877
why are they in london and why does it cost like 50bucks.

~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

he's always had this intense love for those dudes and dilla. it was always more of a friendship/brotherhood and he happens to be one of their biggest fan.

i can't stand his new shit but his overall demeanor in that respect is genuine.

Thought it was funny when Prince Paul caught feelings after hearing cats were going to the photo shoot for the album cover & he never gotta call. Also thought it was funny how Common seemed to sorta slight Souls of Mischief & Pharcyde's appearance but made him hungrier. My old college roomate was the promoter for a Souls, Cyde & PP show at our school back in 99. Souls & Cyde were cool while PP thought he was above it all so I really gotta kick outta that.

Also liked when they showed Tip crate diggin & makin beats. Tough to say who's to blame for the break up because I never gotta sense that Tip had this huge ego that Phife seemed to suggest. Also noticed how Tip's tactics to pump Phife up while he was sick could've been taken out of context. Not picking sides or anything but just thought it was kinda awkward how the whole thing went down. Pretty sad really. Especially when they interviewed De la on tour & they wanted em to quit.

Good doc tho. Sucks it only played here for 2 weeks in Seattle & really made me regret not catching em on the Rock the Bells tour that started the flick. Glad I saw em with De La, Souls, & Tha 'Liks back in their heyday tho.

Phife was hilarious. Changed my opinion about q-tip for the good actually. Suprised tip produced as much as he did. Glad to discover and learn about Jarobi - I honestly got into the group after he left ,always thought they were a trio ,so great surprise for me finding out about a fourth member. Wish they had gone more in depth on the last two albums like the first three and of course talked about Dilla some more. Rappaport surprised me and did a decent job. This documentary proved they need to do one on the whole native tongues posse and whoever suggested a wu tang documentary I completely agree !
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