Watch: A Tribe Called Quest Documentary Trailer

Actor Michael Rapaport has been working on a documentary about legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest for years — and now a new trailer offers a tantalizing look at what's in store. The film, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest , features extensive interviews with members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi, and details the quartet's pioneering career during the 1990s, the issues that initially split them up (and flared up again during a recent reunion tour) and Phife's ongoing diabetes-related health problems.

(The group's fractious relations are referenced in an apparently joking title shown at the end of the trailer: Beats, Rhymes & Fights.)

Photos: Random Notes

The doc features appearances from Kanye West, Nas, Mos Def, the Roots and many others who testify to the group's resounding influence, which includes humorous lyrics, previously unplumbed jazz samples, a mellow swagger and, as the Roots' ?uestlove puts it, the fact that the group "managed to rewrite the song structure for hip-hop."

The film is scheduled for release next year.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“My President”

Young Jeezy | 2008

Young Jeezy teams up with Nas on this track, in which he compare his own success with the idea of an African-American winning the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election. "When I pulled up in my car, that s--- was unbelievable to people in my neighborhood because they were like, 'We grew up with him. How the hell did he accomplish this?'" he told Rolling Stone. "I feel like it was the same way with Obama. I grew up all this time, but I've never seen a black man this close to running this country."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter