Growing up in Easton, Pennsylvania I was blessed to routinely have access to New York, which both excited and scared me all at the same time. You cannot deny the insane amount of cultural opportunities that make that town pulse with a heartbeat all its own. As a youth, I was blessed to be taking hip hop dance lessons and to have incredible friends who introduced me to what I like to think of of "conscious rap". My favorite hip hop has always been Tribe (and their associated incarnations), De La Soul, The Beastie Boys (Paul's Boutique and Beyond), and as an adult - I find myself still drawn to Q-Tip, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Roots and The Beasties. I have truly enjoyed seeing hip hop find a groove within itself that was less about one-upsmanship and bling and more about life...beautiful and complicated.
So, I will be honest when I tell you that while I loved the music of Tribe and I'm a big fan of Tip, I didn't really know what lead to the group going their separate ways. When the reunited in 2008 I really wanted to try to go see them, but missed out on tickets. Today, I realized that much like family relationships which are a smaller cosmos of a real "tribal" existence, it IS what we leave unsaid that really starts to eat away at our connections to one another.
From what I saw within the movie, and commented to a new and enlightening friend two of the most pivotal members of the group, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg shared a true "brotherly" relationship. Both knowing each other the longest in the group, I noticed how Q-Tip (being an Aries), really embodied the pushing, motivated, forward motion of his art. He's a leader by nature and sometimes misunderstood as being self-involved or strictly about self-interest. Truth is, he loves and cares about his Tribe but sometimes, while he is an incredible lyricist - is unable to get across what he feels about those he cares for most. Nothing that was revealed in the documentary surprised me about him, and it made me appreciate him more.
On the other hand, I learned more today about Phife than I had ever know. Deeply wanting and sadly stuck having to deal with health issues that in some ways, robbed him of some of the joy that his art gave others. I see him struggling with feeling held back by himself. There's a hint of understandable jealousy, and un-resolved grief within him and I felt that deeply. In fact, I realized how much that festering sense of loss and efforts to deny what you really feel can lead to relationships slowly crumbling. Mostly because you are not connected to what you feel. You are so focused on how you feel, that you lose the ability to share that with others. I was touched by his relationship with his wife, and his continuing journey. Just wanted him to know that I understand how he's struggling with some of the simpler elements of his relationships with his friends. Pride and managing your life with limitations you cannot control. Sometimes this closes you off to deeper connection because all you see is that rather large chip on your shoulder. I say this, because I have mine. Blessedly, I see it more and more as a piece of sawdust more and more these days.
A Tribe Called Quest was a family within itself. It still is. It is a collection of friends who joined into a collection of family by choice...a family that created music but was still exposed to elements of division that communication (or lack thereof), can create. So while I was left with a hint of melancholy, I was also left with wonder. You cannot deny how much the right collection of people when together can create magic. So thank you Tribe for showing me that we are all meant to be together for whatever time we're granted and when we are there, with one another - we can create something bigger than ourselves.
Playing now at Downtown West in Knoxville - GO SEE IT.
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