BEATS, RHYMES AND LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

I'm a huge fan of A Tribe Called Quest, and I was looking forward to seeing Beats Rhymes & Life for a long time... while kind of being skeptical over whether it would come out at all. It was no secret that there were serious issues between director Michael Rapaport (an actor, he's in one of my favorite films, Copland) and the band, particularly Q-Tip. Which is a real shame: Rapaport was clearly doing this for love, not money, it's too bad things got so messsy.

I saw an early trailer on YouTube - it was actually called "Beats, Rhymes and Fights."  I can see where Tip took issue with that. Yes, there were lots of personal issues between Tip and Phife Dawg.  Lots.  But to take a group like Tribe - visionaries who never sold out, never dumbed down, sold lots of records and made a big impact on music - and reduce them to interpersonal issues does a bit of a disservice.  To his credit, Rapaport got lots of testimonials from other artists like Questlove, Common, The Beastie Boys and Pharrell Williams, as well as other members of the Native Tongues, including De La Soul and The  Jungle Brothers (but no Queen Latifah!). Personally, I would have liked to hear more details about how Tribe influenced all of these groups, and maybe hear from more of the band's peers who weren't part of the Native Tongues (for instance, I would have been interested to hear Ice Cube's take on them).

I also would have loved to hear more about the making of the early albums.  They were so different, it's hard to explain how weird and interesting they sounded in the context of the late '80s or early '90s.  Call me old, but that was a great era of hip-hop which I definitely miss.

As you can see in the film, Q-Tip is definitely and absolutely the group's leader.  Is he a control freak?  Maybe. But he is also super concerned with quality control, and if he doesn't take responsibility for that, who would? Also, no one else in the band really steps up the way he does.

I was curious about religion, which is hinted at in the film.  Phife refers to growing up as a Seventh Day Adventist, while Ali Shaheed Muhammed is Muslim.  I know that at some point during Tribe's existence, Q-Tip converted to Islam. I would have to think that that changed things also.  But maybe the group didn't want to discuss that. I can respect that, I guess.

As a group, I give A Tribe Called Quest an A. They are one of the greatest, and deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame one day.  But I give this doc a B-.  I think in some ways, Rapaport was too close to the subject matter, and also isn't an experienced documentarian.  Still, I enjoyed it, and will definitely get the DVD.  If I were Sony Classics (the distributor), I'd hire a new director for the outtakes -  to get the real story behind the drama behind the film.  But I'd also get someone to go through the footage and come up with bonus features that focus on the making of the early albums, a la the very cool Classic Albums DVD series.

J. PERIOD'S Q-TIP MIX TAPE: CHECK IT OUT!

I've never been too familiar with the hip-hop mixtape scene. Most mixtapes aren't, strictly speaking, legal. But J. Period is a producer who has done a bunch of mixtapes... I don't know if they are "authorized" per se, but they are "commissioned." His latest mixtape is J. Period/Q-Tip The [Abstract] Best.

It's kind of like an audio documentary/podcast/tribute hybrid with pieces of songs, clips from interviews with Q-Tip as well as artists who he has worked with and influenced. There are new versions of some songs from his career (De La Soul cover "Excursions," Dres from Black Sheep gives his take on "Jazz" and a bunch of remixes that feature Questlove on drums). I found this collection on iTunes, where I also found a Roots mixtape by J. Period.  He occasionally posts other mixtapes at his website, if you love hip-hop, you should check it out. 

ROCK THE BELLS: LAURYN'S COMEBACK, TRIBE'S TRIUMPH

This weekend, the Rock The Bells festival hit NYC, and it was a great time.  The story of the day was the comeback of "Ms." Lauryn Hill. I'm a huge fan of her classic album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and I was hoping for a great performance. But, like a lot of other people, I didn't know what to expect.  Would she show up?  Would there be a meltdown?  Was it going to be like her MTV Unplugged? The answer was a bit more complex.  She showed up with a very large band (most of the main stage acts were MCs and DJs, Lauryn had two drummers, guitar, keyboards, backing singers, etc.).  All the mics caused feedback and sound problems, but Lauryn powered through her set, victoriously.

She kicked off with a fast version of "Lost Ones" followed by a few more songs from Miseducation (but not "Doo-Wop" or "Everything Is Everything").  She also did her classic but not-super-well-known cover of Bob Marley's "Turn Your Lights Down Low." She also did three Fugees songs: "How Many Mics," "Fu-Gee-La" and "Ready Or Not." I was kind of surprised by that - but she did incredible versions, and I guess the point was that she doesn't need Wyclef to perform those songs.  Her band was super-tight and obviously well-rehearsed and Lauryn was in top form: her singing sounded great, but she was spitting rhymes with fire. She was also inspired by the crowd on the side of her stage, including her children (five or six of them!), plus celebs like Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, John Legend and Chris Rock. I don't know what her next move will be, but it should be interesting!

The other huge highlight of the day (for me) was A Tribe Called Quest's performance of Midnight Marauders. Last time I saw Tribe it was at Rock The Bells two years ago, and that night Q-Tip performed one solo set and then one with Tribe. This time it was all about the Tribe, and they were amazing.   They are so tight and well-rehearsed, they don't rap over their record, they rap over the beats that were used on the record. Ali Shaheed Muhammed is a great DJ, and Tip and Phife Dawg have a great bond and vibe going. Later on in the set, founding member of the group Jarobi joined them.  Also joining them for a few songs: Large Professor and Main Source for "Fakin' The Funk." Then of course towards the end of their set, Busta Rhymes for "Scenario." Incredible show and the highlight of my day.

Wu-Tang Clan: nothing to fuck wit', apparently!  Last time I saw them was at Rock The Bells a few years back, in my pre-blogging days.  They were great, it amazes me that a group with so many MCs keep it together for a tight set.  I've seen some messy Wu-Tang shows over the years, but they were great this year, sticking with material from their debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Ol' Dirty Bastard was represented by his son, Boy Jones, who sounded just like his dad.

It was great to see KRS-One and Rakim at the same show. I'd never seen Rakim before, and I heard he was boring live.  Not true.  He was supposed to be performing the Eric B. & Rakim album Paid In Full, and he played most of it, throwing in just a purfunctory 5 seconds of the instrumental "Chinese Arithmatic." It's a bummer that he and Eric B. can't get it together to reunite.  KRS-One did a cool set, but talked a bit too much.  Unfortunately, I got there too late to see Slick Rick, and I left before Snoop Dogg (there were only two ferries to take everyone to and from the island, and I didn't want to wait on an hours-long line). But it was a great show, and I have to give props to the Rock The Bells people for always putting on a great show.

MORE "HELP" FOR ROLLING STONE'S 500 GREATEST

So, once I was done paring down Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs," it was down to 486.  I tried to add 14 more, but I ended up adding almost 100 more songs.  This isn't my definitive list, but it's my job to share important stuff like this with all of you. Ha ha.  In no order at all, here's the rest of the songs on my "remix" which is now at 570 songs and counting.

• A Tribe Called Quest - "Award Tour"
• de la soul - "Ego Trippin' (part 2)"
• Alicia Keys - "No One"
• Fiona Apple - "O' Sailor"
• Ben Harper - "With My Own Two Hands"
• The Wallflowers - "One Headlight" (although the best version of this is the one from the MTV VMA's where they were joined by Bruce Springsteen)
• John Hiatt - "Have A Little Faith In Me"
• Cowboy Junkies - "Miles From Our Home"
• Jamey Johnson - "High Cost Of Living"
• Everclear - "Strawberry"
• Buddy & Julie Miller - "Gasoline & Matches"
• The Replacements - "Bastards Of Young"
• Gaslight Anthem - "The '59 Sound"
• Steve Earle - "The Devil's Right Hand"
• X - "Los Angeles"
• The MC5 - "Kick Out The Jams" (how'd they miss this one?)
• Pearl Jam - "Corduroy"
• Rancid - "East Bay Nights"
• Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"
• Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song"
• Nine Inch Nails - "Wish"
• Fugazi - "Repeater"
• Black Flag - "Rise Above"
• Dropkick Murphys - "The State Of Massachusetts"
• Rage Against The Machine - "Sleep Now In The Fire"
• Faith No More - "Midlife Crisis"
• Soundgarden - "Superunknown"
• Primus  -"Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers"
• Iron Maiden - "Iron Maiden"
• Alice In Chains - "Angry Chair"
• KISS - "Deuce (live)"
• The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
• Matthew Sweet - "Dinosaur Act"
• The Jessica Fletchers - "Summer Holiday & Me"
• Cocktail Slippers - "Sentenced To Love"
• The Drive-By Truckers - "This Fucking Job"
• Loretta Lynn - "Rated 'X'"
• Lucinda Williams - "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road"
• Emmylou Harris - "I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now"
• Patty Griffin - "Mary"
• Sade - "By Your Side"
• John Legend - "Used To Love U"
• EPMD - "Crossover"
• Gang Starr - "You Know My Steez"
• LL Cool J - "Rock The Bells"
• Nas - "Made You Look"
• Peter Tosh - "You Can't Blame The Youth"
• Fishbone - "Ghetto Soundwave"
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Can't Stop"
• The Afghan Whigs - "Going To Town"
• PJ Harvey - "Long Snake Moan"
• Florence + The Machine - "You've Got The Love"
• The Avett Brothers - "I And Love And You"
• Crowded House - "Distant Sun"
• Living Colour - "Bless Those (Little Annie's Prayer)"
• The Yardbirds - "Heart Full Of Soul"
• Van Halen - "Mean Street"
• Muse - "Uprising"
• Peter Gabriel - "Solisbury Hill"
• Wilco- "Jesus Etc."
• Pete Yorn - "Don't Wanna Cry"
• Kathleen Edwards - "In State"
• Norah Jones - "What Am I To You?"
• David Gray - "The One I Love"
• Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
• Ben Folds - "Landed"
• Duffy - "Stepping Stone"
• Adele - "Chasing Pavements"
• James Hunter - "No Smoke Without A Fire"
• Levon Helm - "When I Go Away"
• Ray LaMontagne - "Three More Days"
• The Black Keys - "I Got Mine"
• My Morning Jacket - "I'm Amazed"
• Wyclef Jean featuring Norah Jones - "Any Other Day"
• Raphael Saadiq - "100 Yard Dash"
• Michael Franti & Spearhead - "Say Hey (I Love You)"
• Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather - "Stop Me"
• KRS-One, Kanye West, Nas and Rakim - "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)" (produced by DJ Premier)
• Common featuring DJ Premier - "The Game"
• N.A.S.A. featuring Kanye West, Santigold and Lykke Li - "Gifted"
• Mary J. Blige - "Be Without You"
• Black Star - "Definition"
• Mos Def featuring Q-Tip and Tash - "Body Rock"
• Talib Kweli - "Going Hard"

"REAL HIP-HOP" WAS INDEED IN THE MUTHAF@#$IN' HOUSE: ROCK THE BELLS 2008

The Rock The Bells 2008 tour was a great time, but before I talk about it, I gotta thank my friend Angela Yee from Shade 45 for getting me in, and my friend Su for getting me a ticket! 

The behind the scenes stuff was a mess, and the waiting time between artists was way too long, but why dwell on that. It was a great show. I got there a few hours after it started, but as I got to my seats, dead prez were wrapping up their set with their classic song, "Hip-Hop." They are group who definitely have something to say: I wish I liked their music more. Speaking of having something to say, the next artist was Immortal Technique. He's a little bit to the left of me, but I liked his tracks and definitely appreciated that he has something to say. I may not even agree with everything he says, I don't know, but I am at least interested. 

Then de la soul came on. de la was the first hip-hop group I ever saw perform: it was at The Ritz in New York City back in like '89 or maybe '90, they were opening for Living Colour. Back then they came off a bit goofy, but I don't feel bad saying that: a few years ago, I got to interview Pos, Dave and Mase and when I mentioned that show they were all like "Oh no!" But they've toured so extensively since then, they've got their thing down, and they are one of the tightest live hip-hop acts that you'll see.  It was tough for them to squeeze their set into 35 minutes or whatever, but they did good. Q-Tip joined them for a bit of "Buddy," and Dres from Black Sheep joined them, yes, for "The Choice Is Yours." Say what you want about "one-hit wonders," it must feel good to have thousands of people chanting along with your big hit from 15 years ago. On the other hand, it was clearly a bitch to have to follow that song up. 

Raekwon The Chef and Ghostface Killa were next. Here's my problem: like quite a few hip-hop crews, these guys let everyone they know come on stage with them. That might be cool at a club (I'd argue that it isn't cool even in a club). But at a huge venue, it doesn't work. I was so far away, I couldn't really see who was who. Most of the people on stage didn't even have mics. So why did they need to be there? But the performance was mostly tight. I like Ghost's new song "Be Easy." But the old stuff like "Ice Cream" and "Incarcerated Scarfaces" of course got everyone out of their seats. 

Then Mos Def. For my money, he's one of the most talented cats out there, but I sometimes think he needs some focus. The guy is a great lyricist, has awesome delivery, can sing soulfully, but also do rock and reggae, and has lots of presence. He's always got so much going on: hip-hop, his rock band, his big band, spoken word, acting, etc. I think he's had some great cameos, but other than the Black Star album and his solo debut Black On Both Sides. And that was kind of the deal with the beginning of his set: there were these weird scenery videos going on, and the performance wasn't too gripping. Then Talib Kweli hit the stage. Next level, how ya doin'? I know those guys aren't too anxious to do another Black Star album for fear that it won't live up to the first one, but I don't know, if they really focus, maybe they can do it. "Respiration" was great. Too bad Common wasn't there (it would have been cool if he'd joined de la as well). 

Considering how much Method Man and Redman seem to enjoy blowing trees, it's surprising how tight they were. Meth kept yelling the same "The same amount of energy you give us, we'll give back to you!" thing he yelled at last year's festival, when he played with The Wu-Tang Clan. He seemed to have more fun with Red, though, and the crowd seemed more into them. They're plugging Blackout 2, the sequel to their first album, Blackout, from 1999. But they hardly played any songs from that album; too bad, it was really underrated. Other than "Da Rockwilder" (which they did play) I liked "Mi Casa," "Cereal Killer" and "1,2,1,2." Ghostface joined them, which was cool. And Erick Sermon and Parish Smith (a.k.a. EPMD) also joined them, which was cooler. They did "You Gots To Chill." Slick Rick also popped on stage for a second or two to recite the hook to "La Di Da Di." 

Nas is kind of having his moment right now: his untitled album is at #1 despite controversy over its original title. I was surprised to see that he was backed by a band, along with DJ Green Lantern. (GL calls himself "The Evil Genius," which - no disrespect - makes no sense. Why doesn't he call himself Sinestro if he's evil? That's some comic book stuff.) They opened with a new song "Slave/Master" which was pretty powerful, and then went into the title track from 2006's Hip-Hop Is Dead (a great song to play live with a band). Then he kicked into a bunch of songs off of his classic debut Illmatic, followed by other his from his career (including "One Mic" and "Hate Me Now." And Jay-Z joined him for "Black Republicans." Predictably, people went nuts for the former President of Def Jam. I'm not a fan, but I had to admit, it was pretty cool. A lot of people weren't feeling the band thing. I thought it worked at some points, and others it didn't, but it was overall a good set. 

Next, Q-Tip hit the stage with DJ Scratch and did stuff from his upcoming album (but not the cool song "Work It Out," some Tribe stuff, and his earlier solo hits like "Vivrant Thing" and "Breathe And Stop." He had a band but no drummer, which was pretty weird. It didn't totally work for me as much as I wanted it to. Still, I believe Tip may have a few classic albums in him, his mind is in the right place. 

It's probably almost too easy for Tip to play with A Tribe Called Quest again. Still, they are so awesome together, it would be a shame for them not to do it anymore. I hope that he can balance his solo career with Tribe - even if it is just Tribe concerts and not new music. They were awesome, and when Busta Rhymes joined them for "Scenario," it just tore the place up. 

Great night, and thanks to Shade 45/Flow TV personality Angela Yee for getting me through the gate and my pal and former intern Su for hooking me up with a ticket.  I took some pictures, but they were from far away, I gotta look at them and decide if I want to post them. 

"SEVEN NIGHTS TO ROCK"

A week from today, my lovely wife (we just celebrated our six year wedding anniversary) leaves for a week and a half trip to Africa. She goes nearly every summer. Last summer I went with her. This summer I'm not (her trip involved a class, much reading and a term paper that needed to be completed before the trip).

Anyway, at some point I noticed that starting the night she leaves, there are seven shows in a row that I want to go to. Wouldn't it be fun to go to all of them? I'm calling it "Seven Nights To Rock," after an old song that Springsteen sometimes covers. Of course, I'll be blogging about it. Other than just writing about the shows, though, I'm also going to be writing about what it costs in ticket prices, gas, tolls, parking and food. Plus, what's it like to be a guy who is pushing 40 (or, leaving his 30s), holding down a job, and going out for seven nights?

My old company, VH1, may be interested in me blogging about this on their site. I've been trying to push it to other sites as well, but time is running out. So, I may blog about it here, or I may blog elsewhere (but I will link to it from here). Here's the schedule: 7/26 I'm starting out with a movie that "rocks," Neil Young's Crosby Stills Nash & Young Deja Vu documentary. My original plan for 7/26 was to see Yes, but they cancelled their summer tour. However, if I do it for VH1, I'll be going to the Warped Tour. I went to the Warped Tour in its first year, its first few actually, but I haven't been for a long time. I'm not that interested in many of this year's bands. I know that Pennywise is playing, so is Against Me! (a band I would probably be into if I were in high school now) and the Horrorpops. 7/27: Rock The Bells (with A Tribe Called Quest, de la soul, Nas, Mos Def, Method Man & Redman, Raekwon & Ghostface and more). 7/28: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. 7/29: The Foo Fighters. 7/30: Aimee Mann. 7/31: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (yes, again). 8/1: Loretta Lynn. But if I do it for VH1, I'll go to see Apples In Stereo instead. Should be fun and interesting, if tiring. I'm sure I'll be talking about it on the OutQ In The Morning With Larry Flick Show.

NIGEL GODRICH TO PRODUCE Q-TIP'S NEXT ALBUM

Risky choice from The Abstract. Q-Tip's last two albums were shelved by record labels and remain commercially unreleased. So, hooking up with Nigel Godrich - the dude most well known for producing Radiohead, but he's also worked with Beck, Travis, Pavement and Paul McCartney - isn't the most commercial choice. You gotta respect Tip for sticking with his vision, damn the consequences.

It's good that Tip will be getting back in the public eye this summer by reuniting with A Tribe Called Quest for the Rock The Bells tour.

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST TO HEADLINE ROCK THE BELLS

Last year's Rock The Bells Festival featured the reunion of Rage Against The Machine, as well as Public Enemy and The Wu-Tang Clan, which is a pretty tough to beat bill. But they've got a great lineup this year as well: A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, Rakim, de la soul, Method Man & Redman and Ghostface & Raekwon are all on the bill. Unlike last year, lots of these guys will have new music out (Q-Tip, Nas, Mos, Meth/Red and Raekwon). I thought the organizers did a great job last year, so I'm really looking forward to this festival.

AWARD TOUR

When I first heard about this year's VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, I wasn't impressed. I heard they were honoring Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot and Whodini. Not to be a "hater," in the parlance of the times, but Snoop always seems more like a great character (or guest MC) than a guy who makes classic records. Missy seems to to be a bit too young for this honor (I felt the same way about The Wu-Tang Clan, there's still lots of acts from the '80s who deserve recognition first) and I was never into Whodini.

Then I found out A Tribe Called Quest were also being honored. They're not just one of my favorite hip-hop groups, they're one of my favorite groups, period. I would probably put the MC team of Q-Tip and Phife Dawg against that of any other group. And Ali Shaheed is a great DJ/producer, and a very underrated one. Anyway, the tribute was cool: Common, Lupe Fiasco, Pharell Williams of The Neptunes and Busta Rhymes did a pretty cool performance (Mr. Fiasco messed up the lyrics which led to a, well, fiasco, which you can read about on... well, every hip-hop blog), and Tribe themselves was great.

The honor came at an interesting time: Q-Tip has been on tour, trying to re-ignite his solo career. His solo debut, 1999's Amplified, had a huge hit with "Vivrant Thing," but didn't do that well (maybe because the single came out on a Tribe best of and a Violator management compilation before Amplified was released), and because he seemed a bit, uh, Puffy, which many fans took offense to. The follow-up, the mainly instrumental Kamaal The Abstract (with Tip on keyboards) was shelved by the record label, and so was the next one, Open (although he did release the single, "For The Nasty," with Busta). How many artists do two unreleased albums in a row? Tribe has done some reunion shows in the past few years, and I hope they continue to do them. I was sorry to hear about Phife's problems with diabetes, and I'm glad he seems to be doing well.

I'm looking forward to see what Q-Tip does in the future. He's one of the few guys in hip-hop who I can see really making great albums in his 40s and beyond.