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The Details

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Directed by Michael Rapaport

Rated R

Opens Friday

Beyond the Weekly

Official Movie Site

IMDb: Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Rotten Tomatoes: Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

First-time director Michael Rapaport (best known as an actor) has attracted a fair amount of attention for his documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, thanks to some of its subjects taking issue with their portrayal in the film. But Beats isn’t nearly as controversial as you might expect from the advance buzz; mostly it’s a well-told and fairly straightforward account of hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest’s rise to success in the 1990s, the value of their more introspective approach to the genre and their subsequent falling out (and later reunion). Although sections of the movie deal with inter-group tensions, it’s nothing more contentious than your average Behind the Music episode. Rapaport has crafted something more artistic and insightful than a VH1 special, and his love for Tribe’s music comes through clearly. But the movie’s value is in informing and illuminating, not provoking.