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Check Out The New Trailer For BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST – We Are Movie Geeks

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Check Out The New Trailer For BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

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Have a look at the new trailer for Michael Rapaport’s BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST opening in NY & LA on July 8th. (via Yahoo! Movies)

In April 2011, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, Co-Chairmen of Sony Pictures Classics, announced that starting July 8th Michael Rapaport’s Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest would commence its platform release. Following in the tracks of A Tribe Called Quest concerts, the release of the film will mirror that of a concert tour. “Sony’s release strategy is a perfect tribute to the spirit of this film. I’m really excited to go on the road this summer and meet other true fans like myself” says Rapaport.

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A tribe Called Quest is a documentary film directed by Michael Rapaport about one of the most influential and groundbreaking musical groups in hip-hop history. Having released five gold and platinum selling albums within eight years, A Tribe Called Quest has been one of the most commercially successful and artistically significant musical groups in recent history, and regarded as iconic pioneers of hip hop. The band’s mysterious break-up in 1998 shocked the industry and saddened the scores of fans, whose appetite for the group’s innovative musical stylings never seems to diminish.

Rarely heard stories told by New York’s legendary DJ Red Alert, Native Tongues members like Monie Love, the Jungle Brothers, Busta Rhymes, and De La Soul bring an intimacy to the days when young artists discovered the freedom of artistic expression, rejecting the confines of gangster rap and negative stereotypes. Chronicles of songs like “Scenario” and “Check the Rhime” paint a vivid picture of growing up in Queens, and how the band’s unique approach to hip hop helped transform and influence the genre for years to come.

Other features in the film include interviews from the Beastie Boys, Kanye West, Pharrell, Mos Def, Santigold, Monie Love, Pete Rock, Large Professor, De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers and Common, all of whom attribute some combination of love, respect, and inspiration drawn from the legacy of A Tribe Called Quest.

Click HERE for a complete list of release dates. Visit www.beatsrhymesandlifemovie.com for up to date information and additional theatre announcements.

ABOUT A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
Q-TIP, PHIFE DAWG, ALI SHAHEED MOHAMMED & JAROBI WHITE

A Tribe Called Quest is widely recognized as one of the most innovative, influential, and revered hip-hop groups of all time.  Known for their unique approach to rap music by employing jazz infused soundscapes to Afro-centric rhymes, their sound was a decisive and welcomed tangent of the genre.  Discarding the jaded, aggressive posturing associated with hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest was largely responsible for the popularity of a new style that dominated the East Coast sound of the early 1990s, and has been called the most intelligent, artistic rap group of that decade.  Rolling Stone has called their records “near-flawless”, and that “few hip-hop acts have so sharply captured the surreal quality that defines what it means to be African-American, a quality in which poker-faced humor and giddy tragedy play tag team with reality.”  These childhood friends from Queens engaged their unique talents with a refreshing lack of self-consciousness, embraced collaboration with their peers, and defied conventions to create their own unclassified brand of hip-hop.  This combination of inspired sampling and relevant yet playful lyrics proved to be groundbreaking, and they released five albums within eight years.  With three LP’s going platinum and two reaching gold, ATCQ has consistently combined artistic integrity and commercial success, an achievement so rarely seen in the industry.

New York natives Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi and Ali formed ATCQ in 1985.  The original name of the group was QUEST, which was later modified by their high school buddies, The Jungle Brothers, while recording their album Straight Out The Jungle. Continuing their enthusiastic alliance with like-minded friends, ATCQ formed a collective with The Jungle Brothers and De La Soul that they called “Native Tongues”.  Establishing a new style of positive-minded collaboration and attracting the attention of artists like Queen Latifah and Monie Love, the success of Native Tongues paved the way for ATCQ, who became known for their energetic live performances and landed a major recording contract with Jive Records in 1989.

Their first album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, was released in 1990. Marked by a playful lyrical approach, light-hearted content, and to a lesser extent an idiosyncratic sense of humor, this debut was free from much of the posturing of both hardcore hip-hop and the more left-wing aspects of conscious hip hop.  Although now critically acclaimed, at the time the record was met with mixed enthusiasm, gaining momentum after the group’s later commercial success, eventually going gold six years after its release.

It was their sophomore effort, The Low End Theory that would break major ground in the industry. Released in late 1991, the album is considered one of the greatest follow-ups in hip-hop history. While not considered commercially viable by the label at first, The Low End Theory’s bold artistic style nonetheless performed very well on the charts and was the first ATCQ album to go platinum.
 
Remarkably, the group’s next album, Midnight Marauders, released two years later, was also destined for greatness.  It became ATCQ’s fastest-selling album; it was certified platinum on January 11, 1995, less than two years after its release. The group was now famous for their unique choices of sample material on their albums and Midnight Marauders was no exception. The creative freedom expressed in this record – along with its predecessor The Low End Theory– influenced many future artists and producers such as Common, The Roots, Jill Scott, Kanye West and The Neptunes. These artists are a part of ATCQ’s legacy and are evidence of their impact for years to come. Songs like “Award Tour,” “Electric Relaxation,” “Check The Rhime” and “Scenario” defined ATCQ’s sound during this period and are considered not just hip-hop classics but American music classics.

In 1996, ATCQ released their fourth album, Beats, Rhymes & Life, which shot straight to #1  on the charts and went gold by the end of the year. In 1998 the album went platinum. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, as was the lead single, “1nce Again”, which received a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The Ummah – a production team consisting of Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed and newcomer and stellar talent Jay Dee (later Jay Dilla of Slum Village) – was established the same year. In addition to the heavier subject matter, The Ummah’s production style was now a smoother (but darker) hybrid of the group’s previous incarnations, where the snare possessed a much sharper crack on most tracks. Following Beats, Rhymes & Life, the group appeared on the Men In Black Soundtrack. Later that year reunited with the original Native Tongue groups, when the Jungle Brothers invited both Tribe and De La Soul to guest on “How Ya Want It We Got It”, a cut from their album Raw Deluxe. The Ummah continued producing for a diverse range of artists such as Janet Jackson, DAngelo, Faith Evans, and Whitney Houston.

ATCQ continued to perfect and advance their sound, displaying their unique take on hip-hop.   After the completion of their fifth studio album, The Love Movement, the group announced that it would be their last album together. Critical reception for The Love Movement was fairly positive, and the band received their second Grammy Nomination for Best Rap Album in 1999.

In recent years, the group reunited and performed several sold-out concerts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico but have yet to grace the studio for another record. Today, the power of their music is still evident in their dynamic stage shows and in the reception of their adoring fans.

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