A Tribe Called Quest: Documentary

I took a stroll down "memory lane" today. I went to see the documentary on the Old School Hip-Hop group, A Tribe Called Quest. It was amazing! Micahel Rapaport did a wonderful job with this. I always wondered whatever happened to this group, as well as many other artists from the 80's and 90's.

A Tribe Called Quest wasn't just a National group. They were INTERNATIONAL, well known all over the world. They paved the way for many artists today. If it were not for Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi, and Ali, then there'd be no Kanye West, Common, Ludacris, Roots, etc...

Just like Run DMC, Whodini, Grand Master Flash, Sugar Hill Gang, and all of them paved the way for A Tribe Called Quest, they paved the way for today's artists. Unfortunately, Hip-Hop has taken a whole different direction from its original form. Original Hip-Hop was all about bringing awareness and social consciousness to the community. It was about love, unity, and dancing. Now, it's more about materialism, violence, and sex. So, in the documentary when Phife stated his reason for pursuing his passion for sports and coaching/mentoring a youth basketball team, I can understand why he made the statement, "With the direction Hi-Hop is going in now, I can do with or without it." To me, that's a powerful statement! When you can live with or without something, that means..."The thrill is gone!" That means, it's time to move on.

There are 2 main reasons, from what I perceive from the documentary, why ATCQ broke up:

1.) Phife & Q-Tip could not get past their stubbornness & compromise for the greater good of the group

2.) Their season had come & gone

Phife & Q-Tip fought just like any other brothers normally do. Unfortunately, they disagreed and couldn't work it out. I'm still praying & hoping that they can resolve their differences.

From what I saw on the documentary, Q was trying to get Phife more involved. He was trying to push him to be a better artist, by showing up to rehearsals & stepping up his game. However, there's only so much pushing, motivating, and encouraging someone can do. They have to want it for themselves. Sadly, Phife took Q-Tip's pushiness/leadership role as him trying to control everything and steal the spotlight. That's not what I saw, but then again...I wasn't there with them on a day to day basis when they were grinding it out.

A lot of their disagreements were over pettiness, simple things they could've overlooked. For example, when they were performing on stage at an event, and Phife had just gone to dialysis before the concert and wasn't feeling too good, Q-Tip handed him the mic and told him to rip it. Phife didn't like how Q put him on the spot like that. He figured Q should've known better. He figured Q knew he was sick. I think this disagreement was all Phife's fault, because he should not have assumed Q knew he was sick. Q stated in the documentary that Phife was telling everyone he was feeling fine, so why wouldn't he try to get him to rip on the mic? So, if Phife really wasn't ok, then he should've said something. I'm sure Q would've understood.

Not to give too much of the documentary away, but I have to say this... It was a beautiful thing when his wife turned out to be a match. Phife's wife donated one of her kidney's to him. I kept saying to myself, "Oh my! Look at God! Nobody but God!" Phife's mother wasn't a match. His father was too sick to donate, and several others couldn't donate for various reasons. What are the odds of a spouse being a perfect match to donate a vital organ for survival? Relations are about give and take. They're about compromising with one another. They're about love. So, what better way is there to giving and showing your love and support than by "giving" one of your kidney's? That to me says that these two people were made for each other!

My favorite ATCQ song is: Bonita Applebum on their debut album "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm". The musical composition on the song is just phenomenal. The beats and melody flow through my body like water or plasma. Plus, the lyrics were tasteful, yet descriptive of a woman's body, which is something that today's Hip-Hop lacks (respect for women).

Regardless if A Tribe Called Quest makes another album together or not, I still hope and pray that each of them continue to pursue their dreams, their passions.

One Love!

Peace & Blessings!

~Kiseler

P.S. What's your favorite Tribe Called Quest song or album?