A Tribe Called Quest...

One afternoon in my early years, my older sister put up a poster on the door of the adjacent bedroom next to mine. It was a poster of a hiphop group that I thought was just called "Quest".  As I kept running back and forth into her room while being verbally assaulted (like all little brothers do), I kept taunting that she should go and tell Quest to keep me away from her. After about the 15th time that I've made this insult to her, she gave up and educated me on who these 3 guys on her wall were and what they stood for.  No, it wasn't the other 3 white guys that were on her wall at the time.  She played me a record by the 3 black ones called "Can I Kick It?". At the time, I wasn't interested at all, and just felt the beat was cool. But as I got older and started getting picked on in one of the four public schools I was sent to in my elementary years, I somehow managed to hear another record.  This record, in particular, had a woman singing my EXACT feelings of that time while riding the school bus home: "I really know how it feels to be stressed out, when you're face to face with your adversities. I really know how it feels to be stressed out, we're gonna make this thing work out eventually". I would get hype every single time this song came on the radio. It made me feel good about myself despite my differences with the rest of my peers.


At this point, they weren't "Quest" to me anymore....they were A Tribe Called Quest. 


After stealing my sister's copy of their album "Beats, Rhymes & Life" where that record came from, these 3 black guys spoke to me in a certain way and became my favorite hiphop group of ALL time. Wu-Tang came later into my senses, but as far as everything in relation to the hiphop genre, A Tribe Called Quest was the pinnacle of what it means to be a young black male that didn't want to kill anyone and had an everyday struggle. I watched attentively every performance they had on television, and I managed to watch a concert by them as a birthday present at a party.  It was one of the most fun experiences that I've had by myself (AYOOOO HOLD UP!). These people were a major integral part in my style of performing hiphop and they are a huge influence to me.

This group was the reason that I paid nearly $300 for custom made shelltoe kicks from a guy in Canada.

Last summer, I went to a free concert at Central Park where Q-Tip was the headliner.  Through a friend of mine, I've managed to get inside for free as well as having a backstage pass.  I've met a lot of people there such as Diddy, Chester French, Chanel Iman and others.  However, I was more excited that I had met one of my favorite actors, Michael Rapaport.  I asked him what he was doing these days, and he explained to me that he was there taping a documentary on A Tribe Called Quest.  I was too excited about this. After all, this is the Nazi kid from "Higher Learning"!

I was totally shook in meeting Q-Tip, who had his mother with him in the trailer backstage.  The diversity of the entire venue, from seeing the Asian Americans jumping up and down to "Award Tour" to seeing Diddy bang on the walls of the trailers and dancing on stage to the music, it was a moment that attests to the legendary status of the group.  


Now after a year of waiting, I noticed that Q-Tip took his Twitter today and stated that he is not in support of the A Tribe Called Quest documentary, due to certain requests of the band that weren't met by the filmmaker.   The film will premier at the Sundance Film Festival next month, and I felt it was odd for this to happen.  Upon more Googling, I realized that a trailer has leaked online of the documentary...



Whether this is the type of representation that the group wants to portray in the autobio pic of their history or not, I still would love to see this.  However, judging from the scenes of the fights and the animosity shown in the trailer, I can see why Q-Tip may not be on board for this one. As a fan, I hope that this gets to be seen on a national scale.  Time and time again in films that are supposed to represent the hiphop community, we're subjected to seeing images of black men being involved in guns, drugs, and especially death.  The story of this group needs to be seen so that the mainstream media can actually understand that not every rapper is out to kill but to entertain and educate.  What better way than showcasing the group that is hailed to be "the most intelligent, artistic rap group of the 1990s""?  But if it is not in the best interest of all of the members, I completely understand all the same.  Let's see what comes of this in the later days...

Rest In Peace: Leslie Nielsen

I'm going to keep it SO real for ya'll...

This man's films have been a HUGE influence on me as a young kid. Watching the Naked Gun series, the Airplane! movies, as well as his hilarious but underrated Dracula: Dead & Loving It with Mel Brooks (also one of my favorite guys ever) really developed my own sense of humor.  They used to call him eccentric in his demeanor and his idea of being lost and confused by the environment around him, but in all honestly he was a muthafuckin GENIUS!!! And I can't begin to describe how upset I was when I heard the news that he died last night due to complications with pnuemonia. Even though he was 84 years old and lived a long, prosperous life, I still can't imagine the idea that he's gone forever. I knew he was living nice and quietly in Florida, but that was all that was really said about him after the movies.  Plus, he was probably one of the few white guys who backed up OJ Simpson during his craziness in the mid-90s.  He is a legend in my mind and a true comedic actor.  I seriously hope he gets an award, atleast an MTV Award or something.  This generation needs to understand what his type of physical comedy and his signature delivery when telling jokes.  He was one of a kind, he was fearless, and talented.

Rest In Peace good sir.  Just know that your influence was brought onto a rapper named Redhead. Who would've thought, right? Exactly, and I won't call you Shirley.