Can They Kick It (Again)?: A Tribe Called Quest Hits The Big Screen

By Arturo R. García

We got to do our do, not separate, together
Got to move on through, not separate, together
Got to do our do, not separate, together
Got to move on through, not separate, together
- A Tribe Called Quest, “Separate/Together,” 1996

Going by the trailer to an upcoming documentary, A Tribe Called Quest’s reunion earlier this decade put those lyrics to the test.

The highs and lows of that effort, as well as the group’s history, will be covered in Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest, which received critical praise when it premiered this past January at the Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by actor Michael Rapaport, Beats, Rhymes & Life will include not only performance footage and interviews with members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi White and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, but it looks like we’ll get to see how a feud between Phife and Q-Tip threatened to implode the group even as it returned to prominence.

“Is A Tribe Called Quest gonna make more music?” Rapaport asks Ali at one point. Ali’s response: “You got the answer to that question?”

Click here for a list of theatres that will show the film after it opens in July. The trailer, courtesy of Yahoo and Slashfilm, is under the cut.

And as an added kickstart to your Friday morning, enjoy: