Fans of hip-hop band A Tribe Called Quest will thank actor Michael Rapaport for putting together this solid documentary about the group's rise and fall. Filled with interviews of members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White—as well as performance footage from their 2008 reunion tour—Beats, Rhymes & Life offers an insightful tale of a bunch of guys who make it big but suffer a huge falling-out. Drawing on archival materials, and adding reminiscences and dramatic reconstructions, Rapaport limns an impressionistic portrait of the New York music scene in the late '80s, chronicling the impact made by the quartet with the release of their first two albums: 1990's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and 1991's The Low End Theory. The film follows the band's journey through 1998, when it broke up over hostility between Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, the former the public face of the group (and, according to some, a control freak) and the latter a man whose ability to meet the demands of touring was imperiled by his diabetes. Nonetheless, the foursome reconnected in 2008, and Rapaport tagged along, obtaining great interviews as well as fly-on-the-wall footage of the blow-up between Q-Tip and Dawg in San Francisco that ended their supposed rapprochement. A postscript about Q-Tip's solo career and Dawg's serious medical difficulties brings their stories up to date. Respectful but not obsequious, this is a solid music profile that should have wide appeal. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Michael Rapaport, deleted scenes (25 min.), a “Bringing Beats to Life” animation segment (11 min.), a red carpet segment from the film's L.A. premiere (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are eight extended scenes (57 min.), a “Mike's Journey” making-of featurette with Rapaport (19 min.), and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning music doc.] (F. Swietek)
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Sony, 97 min., R, DVD: $30.99, Blu-ray: $35.99, Oct. 18 Volume 27, Issue 5
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
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