In case you couldn't tell by my glowing review of Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, or my fanboy-ish interview with Phife Dawg, I grew up in the hip-hop era of the late '80s and '90s. That was the time when groups like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and others in the collective known as the Native Tongue were most prominent, and hip-hop at its most creative and positive. The idea of 'Tribe' leader Q-Tip passing along his experiences as part of the group in a TV series is worth getting excited about on its own, but throw in Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill and it's downright amazing.
Deadline reports that Q-Tip is teaming up with The Wolf of Wall Street co-stars DiCaprio and Hill for a new, scripted TV drama series loosely based on his time as part of A Tribe Called Quest, which he founded in 1985 with Phife, Jarobi White, and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammed. There's no writer yet for the series, but it's said to reflect on the group's friendship and how their music influenced the music then as it does now.
DiCaprio will produce through his Appian Way shingle, and maybe they can get him to make a cameo as MC Serch or something? No? I could totally see Jonah Hill as Pete Nice. Okay, maybe not. We all know DiCaprio is a big hip-hop enthusiast, hanging out at ball games with Jay-Z and bustin' a move in The Wolf of Wall Street. So his participation makes sense, and only makes this more exciting. Now excuse me as I crank the volume on "Electric Relaxation" up to 10.
, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis sizzle as friends who try the impossible: adding sex to their friendship without consequences.
. For some, like myself, the conversation begins and ends with them. For many who grew up at the heart of hip hop's golden age of the early to mid-90s, you could consider them to be rap's version of The Beatles. I've said many times that the first time I heard 
it was almost like a religious experience, and I prayed at the altar of A Tribe Called Quest regularly. Beats, Rhymes, & Life is a "behind the music"style documentary beginning from the group's humble beginnings to meteoric rise. But also, like all of the greats, internal strife would soon divide these four longtime friends. The actor Michael Rapaport, a devoted rap insider since the beginning(remember 3rd Bass?), delves into the turbulent path of the super group, presenting a beautiful piece of hip hop nostalgia full of joy, pain, and hard truths.
and later in
, has spent the last few years chronicling the on again/off again friendship between the members of 
, released in 2001 and covering the birth and progression of DJs in the world of hip hop. I went to a couple of the Scratch Live tour shows that popped up here in DC, and generally I considered it to be the best film about hip hop ever made. Period. That is until about a month ago when I got a chance to check out Michael Rapaport's amazing documentary, Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. I don't want to get too much into why this film is so great since my review will be up in a few weeks, but what I'll say is this: as a true die hard fan of real hip hop and a ATCQ devotee, this film had my emotions swinging in so many different directions. It's impossible not to get swept up in classic Tribe tracks that sent me back to the days of my youth, but then on the other side I was moved nearly to tears watching the group disintegrate. Along the way we're also treated to a thorough history of hip hop in the early 90s(the golden years, in my opinion), the rise of The Native Tongue, and the ascension of head nodding conscious rap. Look for this movie when it releases on July 8th. You will not be disappointed.
