The have been a number of controversies flaring up around actor-turned-director Michael Rappaport’s impending A Tribe Called Quest documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. Now, with the film set for a July 8 release courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics, Rappaport opened up to Rolling Stone about the film and the troubles he faced in getting it made.
“I knew I had to be ready to fight,” said Rappaport. “I expected to fight the finances, the studios – even the subjects a bit. But I didn’t know how bloody it would get.”
Back in March, Tibe’s Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White lambasted the film on MTV after issuing a statement in favor of the flick when it hit the Sundance Film Festival. They claimed they were not given creative control over the project, producer credits or enough money. Although Rappaport eventually gave them producer credits, he feels that the final cut will speak for itself and that they will all be able to get past their grievances.
“I don’t think the subject of a documentary film should be producers on it,” he said. “It’s not as simple as that, but I had to say, ‘Fuck it.’ I was forced to…Q-Tip, Ali, and Jarobi have yet to see the final cut, or to see the film with an audience. It’s only been on a computer screen, and that’s no way to watch a movie. I’m sure once they see it in its entirety, they’ll realize it’s a positive depiction of the group. It’s my love letter to them. And I hope we get past all this.”
SPELL CHECK…SPELL CHECK…SPELL CHECK. If you’re going to be a journalistic site you probably want to make sure your articles are professional.
yeah, because heads that comment on rap sites are all about proper grammar.
It’s not about ‘hip hop’ anything.
The journalism comes first; we don’t deserve professionalism now?
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Really at the end of the day i dont know the REAl reason behind Jarobi, Ali & Tip’s beef? Phife is cool with the documentary and has shown support for it. I really hope it’s not an ego struggle, as I know for a fact that Tip can be egotistical (hence part of the reason why they’re not reuniting anytime soon), I’m just not sure if the other cats have bought into Tip’s sentiments about the documentary, or if they have a genuine beef towards it, but Micheal seems to hint towards some financial compensation issues. I’m just a huge Tribe fan and wish that something positive will come out of their/this situation VERY soon. They’re very necessary in the hip hop game, even till this very day.
I Agree 100%.
The reason Tip, Jarobi, etc. tunred on the documentary is that they received an e-mail, accidentally/inadvertently sent to them; that was between Rappaport and his associates. The e-mail basically talked about how they were gonna lead Tribe along, and make them think it was a collaborative project, then not show them any cuts, and fuck them on the back end financially. I wouldn’t support the filmmaker either, if he’s tryin’ to do some backhanded, snake-in-the-grass type shit like this goofball did.
But if they still got producer credits then who cares? This is why Hollywood and music shouldn’t always come together because there are just too many agendas. I respect Tribe, but you don’t just walk into a situation and expect to have complete control.
it’s the fact that it makes Tip out to ba an asshole and maked the Tribe brand look like any other bickering hip-hop group..Cats don’t know about the consequence stuff or the Jungle Bros beef..Tip doesn’t want their dirty laundry aired..