Q-Tip had a small role in Poetic Justice, playing the boyfriend of Janet's who is killed in the opening scene and sends Justice into a funk.

What was his character's name? Markell.

Markell was a reference to Markell Riley, who is the brother of Teddy Riley and was also in the group Wreckx-N-Effect.

IIRC, Wreckx-N-Effect had beef with A Tribe Called Quest, due to the lyric "Strictly hardcore tracks, not a New Jack Swing," which is what Teddy (and by extension Wreckx-N-Effect) was known for. This supposedly led to a confrontation in which Q-Tip got a black eye. So, "in response," his character Markell gets blasted.

BTW, this was on the heels of the "We Want Eazy" t-shirt wearing crackhead catching a beatdown by Ice Cube and his crew in Boyz in the Hood.

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Niggas made aliases.