The documentary “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest” is a love song to hip-hop. Directed by actor Michael Rapaport (the dumb but sweet guy in Woody Allen’s “Mighty Aphrodite”), it has energy to spare as it probes the ups and downs of the influential, Q-Tip-led Tribe, whose hits include “Can I Kick It?”
The crew got off to a hot start in the early ’90s, with the release of five acclaimed albums, only to suddenly split up in 1998. A power struggle between boyhood pals Q-Tip and fellow member Phife Dawg was blamed for what one talking head calls “a bitter breakup.”
Rapaport, a superfan of Tribe, easily blends the group’s energized performances with backstage back-stabbing. Anybody who has or had a connection to Tribe is interviewed. Comments are mostly positive, but that’s to be expected given Rapaport’s fandom.
“Beats, Rhymes & Life” is a must for hip-hop heads. Others will either be won over or left wondering what all the fuss is about.