Groups like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin have demonstrated the volatility of creative partnerships with their dramatic break-ups. They each defined a decade of American music before disbanding and are now remembered as part of a developing rock canon. Hip-hop has had a shorter history than rock, but it does have its share of groups whose music demands a similar canonization. Few acts have avoided the sophomore or late-career slump like A Tribe Called Quest, whose five albums released across the '90s lack the kind of gradual decline often experienced by groups with a long history.
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On July 8, actor/comedian Michael Rapaport, in his directorial debut, will release a documentary chronicling the past, present and future of A Tribe Called Quest. Titled after the group's fourth record, the film follows ATCQ in a recent tour which reunited the members after an almost decade-long absence. What the trailer suggests is that the group did not split amicably in 1999 and that tensions continue to this day.
