Original subtitles

[A tribe called quest's "8 million stories" plays]

[Crowd cheering]

Phife dawg: I can't ever put a finger on q-tip

even though we've known each other longer

than anybody in this world outside of our respective families.

I guess you could call it a love-hate relationship.

Q—tip: I'm not gonna say fucking "written by tip" or "produced by tip"

because it's about the tribe. It's about the fucking unit, b.

It's about all of us. I didn't single myself out

to be the fucking ginsu master of this shit, b.

Ali: Outside of this music, there's a life.

What's disappointing is seeing the path

that people who don't have a blood tie but have a kinship

is taking a separation.

And that's... That's always disappointing.

J“ help me out now help me out, y'all j“

j“ help me out now help me out, god j“

j“ help me out, y'all help me out now j“

j“ help me out, god j“j“

q—tip: You guys fucking rock!

People try to shit on hip-hop.

But we are representative today that we are still here.

We're still strong.

I want everybody to put a celebratory fist up in the air. Everybody.

We all here, you know what I'm saying?

We represent this philosophy, this group of ideas.

I look out in the crowd, I see white, I see black.

It makes me feel proud to be a part of it.

So on the count of three, I want us all to say "power."

Y'all ready? One, two, three!

Crowd: Power!

Q—tip: Power to the people. We out, man.

Peace, Seattle! We love you! We love y'all!

A tribe called quest.

Phife dawg: We do have to move on. Good things do come to an end.

J“ help me out now help me out, y'all j“

j“ help me out now help me out, y'all j“j“

man 1: You know what it is. Appreciate it, man.

Rapaport: Tip, you think that that's it?

Q—tip: Mm-hm.

Did you ask them that? Did you ask all that?

Rapaport: About the last show? Did you ask them the same thing?

Rapaport: I asked all you guys.

And what'd they say? Same thing, right?

Rapaport: Yeah, everybody said the same thing.

Q-tip: That it's the last one, right? Rapaport: Yeah.

Well...

You asked phife, right? What'd he say?

Rapaport: Everybody, all four of you.

Said it's over, right?

Rapaport: Everybody said that. Said what?

Rapaport: That this was the last one.

Yeah. That's it.

Only way we could be on-stage together ever again

is we get in the rock and roll hall of fame.

I did everything I could do.

For 20 years, man.

Too old for this shit. I'm out.

It's a wrap, brother.

Narrator: A tribe called quest consists of four members:

Phife dawg.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Q- tip.

And jarobi.

A, e, I, o, u,

and sometimes y.

[A tribe called quest's "can I kick it?" Plays]

J“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? J“ j“ yes, you can j“

j“ well, I'm gone j“ j“ go on, then j“j“

Phife dawg: Rewind for a second. A tribe called quest met up like this.

[Pure essence's "third rock" plays]

I have known q-tip since we were about 2 years old.

Played little league baseball, played football.

Played all the sports. I grew up with him.

We're practically god-brothers.

Q—tip: We met in church.

Basically grew up together.

We were best friends, you know what I'm saying?

Phife and I didn't live on the same block.

We kind of lived in the same area.

He lived, like, right off of linden, kind of on the good side.

I lived on the other side.

J“ back in the days on the boulevard of linden j“

j“ we used to kick routines and the presence was fittin' j“

j“ it was I, the abstract j“ j“ and me, the five-footer j“

j“ I kicks the mad style 80 step off the frankfurter j“j“

phife dawg: I lived with my mom and dad.

A lot of times on weekends I'd be at my grandmother's house.

Because she took me to church.

And the church is seven-day adventist.

So, you know, from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday,

your mind had to be on nobody but god.

Like, everything else is dead.

So I had to sneak and watch soul train.

I had to sneak and watch Scooby-doo

or whatever cartoon was popping off at the time.

But when it came to the block parties and the hip-hop,

once I saw them grabbing Mikes and getting busy,

I risked my livelihood,

getting kicked out of the house just to be a part of it.

[Margo's kool out crew's "death rap" plays]

J“ margo j“

j“ margo j“j“

q—tip: You know, we were mesmerized by the hip-hop.

He was the one who said to me, "you should rhyme.

I'm gonna rhyme. You should rhyme."

So we was just always doing it, just fucking around.

Rapaport: And how old are you at this time?

Like 9.

And he said you should rhyme. Yeah.

And he started rhyming? Yeah.

Phife dawg: And of course, we're from the same area pretty much as run-dmc.

Ll cool j. You know what I'm saying?

So those guys were our idols.

It wasn't even about coming up with your own cadences and flows.

It was all about, "yo, I wanna be like them dudes."

Say, "ho!" Crowd: Ho!

Say, "ho, ho!" Crowd: Ho, ho!

Run-dmc: Say, "ho, ho, ho!" Crowd: Ho, ho, ho!

Now scream!

Q—tip: Everybody... I thought it was just me and phife.

But everybody in here was like...

The hip-hop shit was hot. You know what I mean?

And if you could rhyme, that was like a big deal.

And then after a while you start making up your own words

to their songs.

It was like, "yo, we could do this on our own. What's up?"

Before you knew it, it was on.

[J“j“j“]

Jarobi: These are all the people that lived in St. albans at some point.

All the famous musicians that's lived in St. albans.

Rapaport: All these people lived down here?

Jarobi: Yeah. Queens puts out legends. And I know me and phife

would walk by here and be like, "maybe one day

we're gonna be on this wall." You know?

Beside James brown, fats waller, Coltrane, Lena horne.

You know what I mean?

It was dope. It was definitely in the back of your mind every day.

This is St. albans park.

This is where me and Malik really cemented our friendship.

When we first met, we didn't really care for each other.

He was a smart-ass dude, little dude, whatever, whatever.

We used to sit in this park and play basketball.

So, you know, everybody's in the park. You gotta call next.

While you was waiting for next, phife would be like, "jarobi, kick a beat."

Jarobi is like:

[Beatboxing]

Word? Oh, we a team, that's it.

I introduced him to tip, then he had met Ali in high school

and that was the connect.

J“ can I get whatever from Mr. Muhammad? J“j“

[a tribe called quest's "Mr. Muhammad" plays]

Ali: I lived in an apartment that had a fire escape.

And during the summertime, DJs started setting up

their sound systems in the schoolyard

which was directly across the street from my fire escape.

So I had a view of the schoolyard and I'd see these kids coming in.

Pulling out vinyl, putting their headphones on.

All of a sudden, there's this roar, this cheer.

People dancing and movement of just rhythms and melodies.

It's just going on and on and on

and it becomes somewhat intoxicating.

And not too long after, I learned that those guys were DJs.

[J“j“j“]

It was the '80s and hip-hop had skyrocketed from out of the Bronx.

It came out of the streets and now onto the radios.

There was actual jocks and actual personalities who were eloquent.

Majestic royal voices like Mr. Magic.

Good evening to you, super listeners. How you doing?

It was just a feeling that the music and the art form has arrived.

J“ psk, we 're makin' that green j“

j“ people always say, "what the hell does that mean?" J“j“

Ali: For me growing up, I don't know whether to call it a tool,

a resource, an alien.

You know, it was a physical presence that was a part of

your clique, your crew. That was the radio.

[Jvc force's "strong island" plays]

Garcia: You know, you were just stuck to your radio dial

with two fingers on buttons.

Pause. Record.

Ali: You're flipping through the dial and it wasn't no digital tuning.

It was straight:

[Imitates tuning radio]

Fine-tune it because you might have overshot your situation.

You're like, "oh, I got static. All right, we good. Hold on."

[Imitates tuning radio]

Martinez: You could go to school, talk about, "did you hear this new song?

Did you hear what red alert did? What Chuck chillout did?"

You bonded with people who were drawn to the music.

Mike d: You'd wanna listen to red alert every week.

You couldn't help but hear him.

You'd just hear it blasting from cars or whatever.

And then what's the red alert voice? "Yeah."

J“ yes j“j“

red alert. Pinnacle, at the very top.

So important to so many people's careers.

Everybody say, "ho!"

Q—tip: If it wasn't for red alert, I wouldn't be talking to you right now

because red taught me so much. He's the one who believed in us.

Who gave a tribe called quest theirjump-off.

[Sparky d's "he's my dj (Red alert)" Plays]

[A tribe called quest's "youthful expressions" plays]

This is police headquarters in New York City.

And right here is my old high school, murry bergtraum.

Come on.

Hi, miss esmilla.

Esmilla: Oh, good to see you. Q-tip: How are you?

Oh, my goodness.

We pulled out the yearbook. You see your yearbook picture?

There he is.

Q—tip: Computers. Computer science.

[Esmilla chuckles]

All right, all right. That's enough.

Starting to sound geeky. I don't wanna talk about it.

Because I'm a rapper. I'm cool.

[People laughing]

Ali: Going to murry bergtraum high school for business careers

was one of the most scary moments of my life.

Coming from Brooklyn, knowing you gotta get on the train, go into the city.

It's like, "whoa."

In fact, it was the biggest blessing that happened to me.

Because not only did I meet people from other boroughs,

but I met q-tip.

Q—tip: Music to me in the 9th grade was a big deal

because my father had gotten really sick with emphysema.

And, you know, he was basically dying in front of me.

So music was like a place of refuge.

Um... So it was everything to me.

Wow. Stage.

[Drumming on desk]

Stop banging on those tables!

Banging on the tables.

Craziness. That's all we used to do to these things.

Like they were good for books. Like you could put books in them.

Like you could put books in them and stuff.

But they really were handy as percussion instruments.

[Jungle brothers' "on the run" plays]

Ali: When we all went there, there was a whole bunch of musicians.

You know, a whole bunch of kids who took the opportunity

during cafeteria to beat on the tables and kick a bunch of rhymes.

When I'd speak to phife, I would tell phife:

"Yo, this school is crazy, man."

We went there with Mike g from the jungle brothers.

Afrika from the jungle brothers.

J“ jungle brothers on the run, y'all j“ j“ jungle brothers on the run j“

j“ jungle brothers on the run, y'all j“ j“ jungle brothers on the run j“

j“ j. Beez on the run j“ j“ j. Beez on the run j“

j“ j. Beez on the run j“ j“ j. Beez on the run, come on j“j“

afrika: I look back and I'm like:

"Some weird, mystical thing going on there."

Rapaport: Right. A meant-to-be type of thing.

Mike g: As me and afrika got to know each other more,

he found out that red alert was my uncle.

So we were already driven to do hip-hop.

To write rhymes and make songs.

Q—tip: It was wild because, you know, we fucking around with jungle.

Rhyming our hearts out. And Mike, he's like:

"I'm gonna pass this shit off to my uncle."

Like, "who's your uncle?" "Red alert." And we were all like:

"Are you serious?

Like we're fucking rapping forever and your uncle is red alert?"

They would say, "we want to put on the next set we have in mind."

Because I never knew what they was brainstorming at school.

And they brought this fellow on there, and it was an introduction.

And everybody like, "who's this guy? Who's this guy? Who's this guy?"

You know, and who it turned out to be was q-tip.

J“ black is black is black is black is black is black is black j“j“

phife dawg: He used to always come home from school playing little joints.

He finally came home and played a joint

he did with them, and I believe it was "black is black."

"Quest." the group was called quest at the time.

It was part of the early quest demos.

Tip was on the Mike and he was like... he started the song by saying:

"I'm from a group called quest." And afrika was like, "hold up."

He said, "say I'm from..." A tribe called quest.

It just stuck.

Q—tip: J“ now I'm from a tribe called quest j“

j“ and I'm here tonight with the jungle brothers j“

j“ and we about to get into this thing called j“

all: J“ black is black is black is black j“j“

afrika: I said, "get your shine on this record."

I was very adamant about, "say your name."

You know, "say your name.

Say the name of your crew. And do your rhyme."

Q—tip: J“ my bone is grabbed this is what I mean j“

j“ I brag a gab and here's the scene j“

j“ q-tip from a tribe called quest j“ man: J“ q-tip j“

j“ saw the jungle brothers' album oh, yes j“j“

first time I remember hearing myself on the radio was a Saturday night.

I was just waiting. I knew that it would come on around 10

because I was asking, "what time do you think it'll come on?"

And it came on, and I was like:

Q-tip: J“ just feel the vibe j“ man: J“ feel the vibe j“

q—tip: J“ me and all are extremely radiant j“

[laughs]

I was just like that. I just couldn't believe it. I was stuck, you know?

It wasn't... I was just like:

I told my moms and she was like,

[in high-pitched voice] "Really? Get out of here.

I wanna hear it. Oh, I wish your father was here to hear that."

[In normal voice] You know what I'm saying, so...

It's crazy. It was a crazy moment. You know? It was crazy.

J“ go on with your, go on with your go on with your bad self j“j“

[jjj]

After you.

Man: Yeah, this is perfect. I'll halo you guys.

Rapaport: The hardest thing about being in a group?

Q—tip: The hardest part about being in a group is

constantly considering someone else.

Even before yourself.

This happens when you're a group of musicians doing it together.

It's gonna be a tough thing to manage.

Phife dawg: Let's say we're doing a two-month, three-month tour.

I mean, you're gonna get tired of each other.

If the cubs are playing and we in Chicago,

me and jarobi, we'll go drink a beer,

eat a pretzel or a hot dog, go watch the damn game.

Ali be up in his room, playing the guitar.

And q-tip will always be record shopping.

That was his hobby. That's what he loved to do.

[Jjj]

Q—tip: Ask him if he has any boogie records.

Like boogie 12-inches. Like, uh, queen constance.

You already checked to see who's producing it, what label it's on.

You know, who else is playing on it.

Sometimes you just grab shit just to hear it.

A lot of kids who come up doing hip-hop are doing so

with the only tools that they had.

So all we have is records.

In comes kool herc and grandmaster flash and bambaataa

and all those dudes, and we're making do with what we have.

So we take these turntables and they become our instruments.

Our pulpit and our society that we're performing for now

is our own society.

And our own neighborhoods and our own ghettos.

So when we're doing that, the way we talk to them

is by keeping them hype at the party

and that turns into mc'ing.

So to me, aside from jazz, you know, it's the last

true American art form, hip-hop.

Jarobi: Tip was the first person I saw making pause tapes.

And that was dope. You sit there, you put the record on.

After two bars or whatever go by, press pause.

Bring it back. UN-pause it. Next two. And you kept doing that.

And you have three or four minutes before a sampler.

Three or four minutes of a song.

Q—tip: All we did was take those different things

that we were influenced by and mix it all together.

You know, we crossed up genre and all of that, so...

I think it's a beautiful thing.

For "can I kick it?" These are the drums of pain.

This cover was crazy. I first caught this shit at this spot

that I used to go to after school on 26th street

called jazz record center.

I caught this shit for like $5.

I was looking at the cover. I was like, "ooh. This shit is slick."

Look at his hat. He got, like, the kangol shit, looking up at his chick.

The chick is bad. Yo, got the fucking Lincoln.

My uncle used to have the Lincoln that looked like that.

And I would look at the title and shit.

Lonnie Smith. My pops used to talk about this.

"Let me look at these songs." I look at the songs.

I remember "who's afraid of Virginia woolf?"

Because I remember the movie.

The movie was crazy. Pbbbt.

Sometimes I feel like my life is like that shit.

[Laughs]

Just some fucking social mishap.

[Lonnie Smith's "spinning wheel" playing over speakers]

I'm like, "oh, those drums." I was like, "oh, oh, oh!"

Jarobi... I think jarobi was there. He was like, "word, word, word!"

I was like, "yo, these shits is crazy. I'm gonna kill this shit."

I couldn't get past this. This is the beginning of the record.

I was like, "goddamn." I couldn't believe it.

This is on the first album. This was the pause tape I made.

I was like, "oh, shit, that's crazy."

I was, like, fucking pissing my pants.

[Playing drum sounds]

"Can I kick it?" These are the drums that are actually from "can I kick it."

I caught it from the snare.

J“ can, can I kick it? Yes, you can j“

j“ can I kick it? Yes, you can j“

j“ I'm gone go on, then j“j“

j“ can I kick it? J“

j“ to all the people who can quest like a tribe does j“

j“ before this, did you really know what life was? J“

j“ comprehend to the track, for it's... j“

j“ gettin' measures on the tip of the vibers j“

j“ rock 'n' roll to the beat of the funk fuzz j“

j“ wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug j“

j“ if you feel the urge to freak do the jitterbug j“

j“ spread your arms if you really need a hug j“

q—tip: When we were doing the early demos,

it was me going to Ali's crib in Brooklyn doing that.

And me always telling, "yo, phife, come on. Phife, come on.

Phife, come on."

Skip to years later. "Phife, come on."

It was like that was always the thing with me and him, the dynamic.

Me trying to get him to come.

Say, "ho!" Crowd: Ho!

Phife dawg: I was still just running around being a knucklehead.

I wasn't coming to the studio. Still running around

doing what 18-year-olds do, I guess.

Fresh out of high school and just tripping.

But, you know, tip was just in the right place at the right time.

So I introduced him to the game, but he introduced me to the paper.

J“ can I kick it? J“ crowd: J“ yes, you can j“j“

q—tip: It was just a lot of excitement in terms of getting us signed.

So it became a bidding war.

Before we know it, the number just kept increasing to like 350,000.

At the time, that was like the biggest advance

that a new artist got, so everybody was saying:

"You heard of jungle brothers, you heard of de la soul.

Well, tribe called quest is next in line."

[A tribe called quest's "footprints" plays]

Hi, I'm q-tip. I'm an aries. I'm a sick puppy.

And I'm phife and I rhyme along with him.

That's basically it. And we are...

A tribe called quest. A tribe called crazy.

Our deal was like afrocentric dashikied out.

Like we had to come out and just separate ourselves because

the clothes and the look was just a surface philosophy.

But really, clothes does not make the man.

We are a tribe called quest. A tribe called quest.

Originally, they was dressed in...

They was wearing some real questionable-type shit.

[A tribe called quest's "ham 'n' eggs" plays]

But people didn't look at them as weirdoes.

They looked at them like the miles Davis of hip-hop-type shit.

Like, "oh, okay, they just know about some shit

that we're obviously not up on."

Ali: We were looking like weirdoes to a lot of people.

It was like, "yo, who are these geeky, nerdy...? I don't even know."

They didn't wanna hate, we were part of zulu nation.

It's about diversity and embracing the different things within cultures

that separate us but actually tie us through this thing called music.

There couldn't be too much hatred, but you're looking at these kids like:

"Yo, with the dashiki, the this, the that, kinte cloths." You're like:

Nah.

[A tribe called quest's "I left my wallet in El Segundo" plays]

Man: Okay, son, let's start with this. What's your name?

Q-tip: Q-tip. Man: Where were you going

and who were you going with?

J“ I left my wallet in El Segundo j“

j“ left my wallet in El Segundo j“

j“ left my wallet in El Segundo j“

j“ I gotta get it I got, got to get it j“j“

q—tip: The first video for us was "I left my wallet in El Segundo."

And that title came from... You know, I liked sanford and son.

I remember Fred sanford used to be like:

"Son, you gonna sit down and watch

a late-night movie with me.

It's a good one. Godzilla ate El Segundo."

You know, he'd do all that craziness.

So I remember El Segundo was a constant reference

for Fred g. Sanford.

J“ thanks, senor as I started the motor j“

j“ Ali said j“ j“ damn, tip j“

j“ what'd you drive so far for? J“j“

q—tip: The first time we performed it, we killed that shit.

It was just crazy. I was like, "wow, if they like this,

wait till they hear 'bonita.'"

[a tribe called quest's "bonita applebum" playing]

J“ bonita applebum you gotta put me on j“

j“ bonita applebum I said, you gotta put me on j“

j“ bonita applebum you gotta put me on j“

j“ bonita applebum I said, you gotta put me on j“

Williams: I listened to "bonita applebum" all the time. I was obsessed with it.

I was like... I had never heard nothing like that in my whole life.

And that's where I changed

from just a kid that just liked, you know, hot beats

to really following something.

His style wasn't ongoing. A lot of people are like:

[Speaking indistinctly]

It was like, "hey, bonita, glad to meet you."

J“ hey, bonita glad to meet you j“

j“ for the kinda stunner you, miss I must beseech ya j“

prince Paul: It was really laid-back. It was like a hardcore love song.

It was like one you just go like, "yeah, I love you, girl."

Rapaport: Right.

"I love you." Mwah. You know what I'm saying.

Rapaport: Who is bonita applebum?

Just, you know, somebody that was soft.

Just somebody from the 'hood who was refined, though, and was a lady.

But she had a fat ass.

Martinez: "Bonita applebum" is one of the reasons why chicks dig q-tip.

Because it was like this fun, flirty kind of song

that's appealing, that's fun to say, it's fun to dance to.

And he coined

you know, the "fat ass" term. The term for a fat ass.

In a nice way.

J“ bonita, bonita, bonita j“j“

this is what won the series right here.

You know that, right? Bong! Pull that.

Mr. Phife dawg.

Yes, sir. I'd like to talk to you

and ask you a couple of questions.

You are a native of queens, New York, is this correct?

Yes, sir. I already know where he's going.

It seems that you're wearing a Lakers shirt. Is this correct?

Yes, sir. Um...

Is it safe to say that you are a Lakers fan?

Yes. And you're from New York?

Yes. How did the Knicks fare?

I still love my New York Knicks,

but a championship starts with the front office,

and the front office of the Knicks is straight garbage.

They need to get it together.

What do you think about amar'e stoudemire?

I like amar'e stoudemire,

but I'm gonna need him to play some defense.

Okay, because a lot of new yorkers could take this as an offense.

That's because we've been losing for quite a long time.

[People laughing]

Everybody knows about phife being a sports enthusiast.

You know what I'm saying?

Every day in me and his life there was some sports-related activity.

My five favorite little men in NBA history are:

Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Kenny "the jet" Smith,

Allen iverson, Chris Paul. Big east was the greatest.

You had pat ewing at Georgetown, St. John's, you had mully.

One of the baddest, slowest, but the illest shooters.

Big east basketball was: Five favorite running backs.

Barry Sanders, Tony dorsett, Walter Payton,

Eric dickerson, Marshall faulk. I had to put him in.

Only the Yankees should wear pinstripes.

The mets shouldn't have no pinstripes.

Y'all see the hat. Jay-Z running the nets.

I guarantee you he'd love to have a young rod strickland

playing point guard for the nets right now.

Penod.

[Chattering in distance]

Phife dawg: But I love basketball because of the atmosphere.

So right now I'm recruiting

for the all-boys high school in Connecticut.

My wife gave me her blessing.

Even though we live all the way on the west coast.

She told me she knew this was something I wanted to do.

So I'm really doing this basketball thing.

Like, I'm really hardcore into it.

I've always been, but now

I might have to make it first priority.

You know, I love hip-hop,

but at the rate it's going right now,

I could do with or without it.

[De la souus "ain't hip to be labeled a hippie" plays]

We fancied ourselves as being, like, fresh and innovative.

And we were always looking for shit like that in other artists.

Posdnuos: J“ in america today people think they know the way j“

j“ of the soul de la is on the road j“

j“ to blink and clear the hay j“

j“ behind the line of inner fine j“

j“ we explained this time and time j“

j“ daisies don't mean everything j“

j“ daisies don't mean anything j“j“

like, we had the fucking "crazy-dude freak factor" with us.

You know what I'm saying? And then we met de la and was like:

"These fucking guys are just as weird as we are."

[The new birth's "African cry" plays]

We hit it off famously, instantly.

From that day on, we just became tight and cliqued up.

And then eventually, you know, I was sitting in afrika's house

and I had this new birth record where she was saying:

"Recognize our native tongue." And I just kept cutting it, cutting it.

J“ took away our native tongue j“

j“ native tongue, native tongue j“j“

afrika: That was the first lead.

We speaking our own language so it's like, you know,

we speaking in tongues, you know. He'd bounce them back and forth.

I was like, "we should call ourselves the native tongue."

He was like, "that sounds ill. What is that? What does that mean?"

So I explained to him it's like language that's spoken by people

that's indigenous to that land.

"Yo, af, tell pos what we were just talking about."

I'm like, "what?" And they tell me:

"Whenever we do a joint, instead of have to put all our names on it,

we thinking about calling each other the native tongues.

We, you know... we all speak the same tongue, the same language."

I was like, dat. It was that simple.

J“ all the black people j“

j“ African cry j“

j“ just wanted to live j“

j“ 80 many have died j“j“

[ndikho xaba & the natives' "nomusa" plays]

Native tongue is jungle brothers,

tribe called quest, de la soul.

Chi-Ali, brand nubian, beatnuts.

Black sheep, queen latifah, and then monie love.

Phife dawg: And I also say ions, leaders of the new school.

Rock: Native tongues was definitely a movement.

A big movement in, like, the late '80s, early '90s.

Up to then, rap was maybe more about, like, boasting or battling.

You know, dissing somebody else.

Then they came out, and it was party records, but with a consciousness.

One of the things that I felt was a theme was empowerment and unity.

Like raising the hip-hop community.

Q—tip: It was a thing that was going on in the culture

about awareness, about identity.

About coming out of the 'hood and being able to present

ideas that were lofty.

Monie love: We don't have to do "fuck tha police."

There's a time and a place for "fuck tha police."

And a group for that. We don't have to do "fight the power."

There's a time, place and group for that.

We're allowed to be different.

Williams: It was a movement where everything was so creative

and everybody was so expressive.

I just miss that, man. I mean, what the fuck? The native tongues?

That's a ill group name in itself. A crew name, you know?

Black thought: Had it not been for their legacy,

the roots would definitely be a different sort of band.

I mean, I don't even know if we would have had the courage to be a band.

Common being a teenager, sometimes being into something that is different,

you kind of scared to do it.

Your homies be like, "man, what you doing?"

But then you can sing something like "buddy"

and you could be different and be celebrated.

[De la soul's "buddy" playing]

Say what? J“ meany, meany, meany, meany j“

say what? J“ meany, meany, meany, meany j“

j“ mean j“ okay.

J“ hello, it's the soul j“

j“ troopin' in with the jungle patrol j“j“

it was just a group of people that enjoyed being around each other.

Going to parties, being at each other's sessions at the studio.

Late night till wee hours in the morning

or possibly for three days straight.

Ali: Not only was it just that social connection, but just musically,

I think we were changing what was happening in hip-hop.

Just, you know, sonically and all that. So it was all these elements.

I think it was just a being. A state of being. You know, so...

Yeah.

Rapaport: Like, you go from making pause tapes to a demo.

It's cute. It's fun. This is a real thing. Yeah, the transition.

It changed your life. Yeah.

After the album came out, the first album, it was just like:

"Wow, this is really happening." The stakes became high.

And then everybody was talking about sophomore jinx.

But I never was one forjinx and spooks and shit.

Like, I don't believe in none of that shit. I'm not a superstitious dude.

Like Stevie said, "if you believe in things you don't understand,

then you're gonna suffer." You know what I mean? Like, so...

I never gave none of that shit no weight.

Sophomore jinx, what the fuck is that?

I'm going to make low end theory.

[Jjj]

Phife dawg: He made me feel like it was do or die, that's how I felt.

We were sitting there talking and he was like, "yo,

we gotta do the damn thing, this second lp.

You gotta start coming to the studio.

Not only on time, but just come. You know what I'm saying?

And spit these verses I know you could spit."

I was like, "all right."

So the first day came around and we was just doing it.

Going back and forth like, "we gonna do it this year."

We were in our groove. It's like you've been practicing

for so long, when you pass the ball you don't gotta look.

You know your dude's gonna be there. That was the movement.

You know, the momentum. It all came to be.

We knew how to make music.

Large professor: The snares cut, the kicks were big.

Like, the bass was big.

That tribe shit was like

putting your feet in a new, fresh pair of kicks.

The samples were on point.

Tip was on point. The productions were on point. Bob power.

Another key figure.

It was not by any grand design.

I was just in a very huge learning and experimentation phase.

And the guys were breaking ground musically.

I call it the sgt. Pepper's of hip-hop.

Low end theory came out. Nothing was touching tribe. Nothing.

Nothing. Low end theory. Forget it. Shut up.

Get the fuck out of my face. It's the illest shit in the world.

Weiss: We loved it. It was very different than the first album.

It wasn't as left in some ways.

And we were concerned that it was gonna miss the Mark.

That maybe they were trying to go too commercial.

But it didn't have the artistic integrity that people's instinctive travels did.

And we were fucking completely wrong.

Q—tip: Yes, yes, yes.

Yes. California, how y'all doing?

[Crowd cheering]

Yo, growing up...

Growing up in New York City in the 'hood,

I wanted to get away.

How many of y'all feel like, "sometimes I just wanna get away"?

[Crowd cheering]

Well, I wrote this song in 1990 for this album called low end theory.

And it's called "excursions."

And I wanna get away.

It go like this.

I'm gonna read it off my shirt. Yo, mos def is gonna help me.

But these are the lyrics right here. Here we go.

Both: J“ back in the days when I was a teenager j“

j“ before I had status and before I had a pager j“

j“ you could find the abstract listening to hip-hop j“

j“ my pops used to say it reminded him of bebop j“

j“ I said, well, daddy, don't you know that things go in cycles j“

j“ the way that Bobby brown is just ampin' like Michael j“

j“ it's all expected yo, it's for the iookin' j“

j“ if you got the money quest is... j“

[yells]

J“ come on, everybody let's get with the fly modes j“

j“ still got room on the truck load the back boom j“

j“ listen to the rhyme to get a mental picture j“

j“ of the black man through black woman victim j“j“

q—tip: And that line, "my pops used to say it reminded him of bebop," was true.

Based in the improvisation ofjazz

and sometimes the freestyling of hip-hop.

Just being right there on the moment and just rhyming about something

and changing the pattern or whatever.

Although it's devoid of melody, it still has pattern.

And it still is improvisational.

And the same thing forjazz, you know.

If somebody's playing a solo and they improv'ing,

they may be searching and finding something melodically

whereas mcs search and find something lyrically.

Questlove: Probably their most important contribution

was the canvas that they used, uh,

was a lot of records that were in

our parents' collection that we didn't bother to look at.

[Scatting]

Common they introduced me to jazz.

And eventually, the more I became acquainted with jazz,

the more I started looking at q-tip

and thinking, "man, this dude is Charlie Parker."

And Charlie Parker was, like, a father of bebop,

a father of a whole new brand ofjazz that came about.

And I would say that tribe called quest

was definitely the fathers of a whole new brand of hip-hop

and music at that time.

J“ we do it for the strong j“ j“ strong j“

j“ we do it for the meek j“ j“ the weak j“

both: J“ boom it in your, boom it in your boom it in your Jeep j“

j“ or your Honda or your beemer or your legend or your benz j“j“

j“ the rave of the town to your foes and your friends j“

j“ so push it along trails we Blaze j“

j“ don't deserve the gong don't deserve the praise j“

j“ the tranquility will make you unball your fist j“

j“ for we put hip-hop on a brand-new twist j“j“

Ali: In making the low end theory, there's definitely, you know,

what I think is evident to everyone

and that's the emergence of phife diggy dawg.

[A tribe called quest's "buggin' out" plays]

Phife dawg: I think of being on a f train in queens

on the way to Manhattan to the studio, 25th street,

writing my rhyme on the train.

By the time I got to battery studios, I walked in there, I was a little late.

I'm like, "yo, what up? I'm ready to get busy. What's good?"

"Yo, the Mike's waiting for you."

So I went in there and spit my verse

and then I just remember walking back into the control room

and everybody being like:

"Yo, man. Son, oh, you've arrived."

J“ yo, microphone check, one, two what is this? J“

j“ the five foot assassin with the roughneck business j“j“

when he came through on "buggin' out" the first time we heard it...

"Yo, microphone check, one, two, what is this?" What?

J“ yo, microphone check, one, two what is this? J“j“

the way that I describe that "yo" is the same way that

n.w.a. Busted through the Martin Luther King

"I had a dream" piece of paper on the "express yourself" video.

Like, they busted through that piece of paper like, "what?"

It's like how you put the perfect screw in the hole.

That's what phife was to tribe called quest.

J“ phife this, phife that where you goin', where you at? J“j“

rock: You had one voice that was, like,

high and then you had tip who was, like, in the middle.

Tip is very smooth. Phife is very hype.

The yin and Yang of those two, that to me was the perfect marriage.

Lighty: He brought the street to tribe called quest.

If q-tip was esoteric on pluto,

phife would bring him back to the moon

so that was in the realm of human understanding.

J“ phife dawg is on the Mike and I'm smooth like butter j“j“

[a tribe called quest's "butter" plays]

Mike d: Phife was just kind of hard. You know:

"Five foot assassin with the roughneck business."

"Seaman's furniture." I mean, he didn't fuck around. He just...

That was the first rhyme that came to mind.

When you mentioned phife. I was like, "I'm not gonna say that."

It's memorable. Mike d: Come on.

J“ let me hit it from the back girl, I won't catch a hernia j“

j“ bust off on your couch now you got seaman's furniture j“j“

announcer: It's here. Seaman's most exciting Washington's birthday sale ever.

Power: My favorite line in hip-hop:

"Bust a nut on your couch, now you got seaman's furniture."

You think you're hot and on fire, you'd go to seaman's furniture

and buy your black leather couch and think you were the man.

Seaman's furniture had the furniture that fell apart immediately,

but it looked hot. It looked hot.

But you were still in the 'hood.

Chorus: J“ for the price that's always right see seaman's first j“j“

you come into your own as a mc, you know what I'm saying, so...

I had this stupid little high-pitched voice. I hated my voice.

But everybody else seemed to like it, so you can't fight the fans.

You don't wanna do that.

But that's basically how low end came about. We just clicked.

Everything was clicking, everything was right.

And then jarobi ended up leaving the group.

He had verses on joints and everything.

It was all three of us, so I never really felt like it was me and tip

until he bolted.

He would come and, you know, it was a revolving door for him

because he'd go, but come back, and it was always like he never left.

But jarobi is the spirit of a tribe called quest. It's not me.

It's not phife, and it's not Ali. It's jarobi.

He's the real spirit of a tribe called quest.

He was the one where you see him do his little groovy shit in the camera

and all that. And just the odd wit and the hu...

Like, jarobi encompasses everything

that tribe was, you know what I mean, and tribe is.

Jarobi: J“ least but not last j“

j“ the mystic man himself j“

j“ me, jarobi fuck, yeah j“j“

I just was really uncomfortable with all of the rules and shit

and things that I had to be

because I came from having a strict family to getting freedom.

You know? That was putting the same kind of restrictions.

"Hey, you know you can't do this."

Tip used to say, "you're not just speaking for yourself.

You're speaking for other people now."

All those things were too much for me to handle.

I don't think I was really mature enough for that.

Boy: Yes? Woman: Little boy.

Love you. Love you.

Love you.

Jarobi: I don't regret it, not one bit.

Because my life as it is now is fucking awesome.

You usually develop a passion and you follow it and you do it.

Not many people are able to follow two passions

and to be kind of successful at both.

What's up, chuckles? Who's this?

Phife dawg: Culinary arts, that's his thing. You know what I mean?

So he bolted. I was mad that he bolted.

But I wasn't mad that he was going after his dream.

You know what I'm saying? I was just like, "damn."

It's like my best friend, like, yo.

I don't know, "friend" don't really... It don't really...

Me and this guy, just our lives, our personal lives, everything,

have just been through so much together.

You know what I'm saying? It's like...

I need him here.

That's why he ended up coming back on the road and stuff like that.

Especially this past tour because I didn't know how my body

was gonna act with me going back on the road

and things of that nature, so I needed him there to hold me together.

Q—tip: J“ show him how, jarobi help him out while I do this j“

j“ one for the treble two for the bass j“

j“ you know my style, tip now watch me rip this j“

j“ I like my beats harder than two-day-old shit j“

j“ steady eatin' Booty mcs like cheese grits j“

j“ my man ai b. Sure! He's in effect mode j“

j“ used to have a crush on j“ j“ dawn from en vogue j“

phife dawg: J“ it's not like honey dip would wanna get with me j“

j“ but just in case I own more condoms than tlc j“j“

jarobi: If something happened to me and I lost everything

or whatever the fuck happened,

I know that I got somewhere to go.

And it's the same thing with him. You know?

Just to know that somebody is out there unconditionally.

Just... just whatever.

J“ trini gladiator anti-hesitator j“

j“ Shaheed push the fader from here to Grenada j“

j“ Mr. Energetic who, me, sound pathetic? J“

j“ when's the last time you heard a funky diabetic? J“

j“ funky diabetic, funky diabetic j“

j“ funky di-— funky di... Funky diabetic j“j“

it's amazing how words move people.

They'll see you on the street or a signing in-store or something

and be like, "you taking care of yourself?"

I'm like, "what you talking about?" "You the funky diabetic, right?"

I'm like, "damn, I did say that." I'm like, "yeah, thanks.

Good looking out. Good looking." Rapaport: Right.

You know, but, um, it just...

It was just a little flashback like, "why'd I say that in the first place?"

Rapaport: Right. You know what I'm saying?

Boyce—taylor: Diabetes is apparently on my mother's side of the family.

Malik and I both have juvenile diabetes

which is commonly called type 1.

They don't really have a cure for it,

but you take Insulin and exercise and eat correctly.

And so that helps you to maintain your life.

Take about, what?

Seven units of this right now, it's like a sliding scale

becauseljustchecked my sugar level

so I know exactly how much I need to take.

This one here, right here, is the fast-acting.

If you take too much of this, you might bottom out and play yourself.

Even though I knew I had it, I was in denial, so to speak.

I had to have my sugar.

Cocoa puffs. Whatever.

If it was sugar, it was all good.

But after a while, I stopped with the snickers

and the lorna doones and all of that.

But I'm still addicted to fruit punch. You know what I'm saying?

And pifia colada and all of that type of crap.

This is even better.

"I drink a lot of soda, so they call me Dr. Pepper."

Y'all know what it is. Diet Dr. Pepper.

I had to have my sugar. You know what I'm saying?

So you have to accept it.

If you don't accept it, it's gonna kick your ass.

I think the first time I found out that phife had diabetes

was a little bit before we did, um,

"check the rhi..." Well, around low end theory.

When we were starting to perform

"check the rhime" and we was moving it around in television.

Think it was '92, and we had to do David letterman.

J“ back in the days on the boulevard of linden j“

j“ we used to kick routines and the presence was fittin' j“

by this time, my sugar level was just, phew,

like, through the roof.

To the point where everything was comatose to me.

Everything was slow motion.

"Check the rhyme, y'all. Check the..." I was messed up in the game.

J“ rap is not pop if you call it that then stop j“

phife dawg: I couldn't even move. You know what I'm saying? Barely.

I was slurring my speech. I lost mad weight.

Things of that nature.

J“ late night, check the rhymes, y'all j“j“

so then right after David letterman,

we had to fly to la. To do Dennis Miller the next night.

I couldn't even do the show. They took me to cedars-sinai.

Phife, one of the members of this group, took ill right before the show.

And he had to be taken to the hospital, but q-tip and Ali,

his two remaining members, have been nice enough to give us the rap.

Q—tip: I didn't think it would be that serious because I figured

that phife was young enough

to be able to put correction to it.

Because, you know, there's people who have diabetes

who eat right and work out, where they can get it down to pills.

So I figured that he would be the one that'd be able to have it under control.

But he wasn't that expressive about it.

But we all noticed it. Like, he was weak, you know?

[Audience cheering]

Miller: And there's Ali,

how you doing? Ali: All right.

What happened to phife, man? What happened here?

He's a diabetic and we've been touring with, like, public enemy.

Stuff like that. And we've been on the road so...

It, like, beat him down so we had to rush him to the hospital.

But this, this is for him. You know what I'm saying?

Q—tip: He shrouded his addiction, which is why I probably caused

dissent with him.

Because I was coming at him like, "come work out and come eat right."

You know, maybe I represented a place of resentment for him.

Because that's where he should have been.

And he didn't come to terms with his addictions yet.

So, you know, my whole gym teacher approach with him

may not have been the best approach.

Had I known, I would have dealt with it differently.

Rapaport: Right.

Phife dawg: Of course, Ali Shaheed and q-tip was beating me in the head unmercifully.

Like, "you gotta do better than this." Boom, boom, boom.

All of that, so I stepped up.

Then I'd slip again. Step up, slip again.

It's really a sickness, man, like straight-up drugs, man.

I'm just addicted to sugar.

[A tribe called quest's "electric relaxation" plays]

J“ relax yourself, girl please settle down j“

j“ relax yourself, girl please settle down j“

j“ relax yourself, girl please settle down j“

j“ honey, check it out you got me mesmerized j“

j“ with your black hair and your fat-ass thighs j“

j“ street poetry is my everyday j“

j“ but, yo, I gotta stop when you trot my way j“

j“ if I was working at the club you would not pay j“

j“ hey, yo, my man phife diggy he got somethin' to say j“j“

questlove: The second Tuesday of October of '93,

I consider that the last great day in classic hip-hop.

Two very important albums came out that day.

Enter the 36 chambers by wu-tang.

Midnight marauders by a tribe called quest.

Common when tribe had the midnight marauders album

and they had all the artists on there...

They had souls of mischief,

they had pharcyde, they had a lot of different artists,

but I didn't reach that level and that actually motivated me to go

and get better.

I remember people going, "where you going?"

"I'm gonna be on the tribe album cover."

"Really? They didn't ask me." So I remember everybody going.

I mean, there was mad people on that cover. I mean, look.

Afrika bambaataa, of course, was on there.

Too short. Red alert.

Busta was on there.

Beastie Boys. Mc lyte. Heavy d.

Everybody was on that except me. I was like, "they didn't ask me.

I thought I was cool with everybody."

Midnight marauders, big, big, big records.

Big album, but the sample budget

was probably as big as the album budget to record it.

But that's what made the uniqueness of that music.

Computerized voice: Some people who mc don't know what this term means.

[Jazzy music playing over speakers]

Yo, maynard, let's get a hard echo on this.

[Squealing]

[Squeal echoing]

[A tribe called quest's "lyrics to go" playing over speakers]

J“ lyrics to go j“

j“ oh, yeah j“ j“ lyrics to go j“j“

q—tip: "Lyrics to go" is ill for me because I just love that song

by minnie riperton, "inside my love."

J“ you can see inside me j“j“

q—tip: And I love that part with the Rose and her holding and sustaining that note.

It's just crazy to me, you know what I'm saying? I had to...

I had to make something out of that.

[Riperton singing]

[A tribe called quest's "lyrics to go" plays]

J“ lyrics to go j“ j“ lyrics to go j“

j“ lyrics to go j“ j“ lyrics to go j“

j“ lyrics to go j“ j“ lyrics to go j“

j“ lyrics to go j“ j“ lyrics to go j“

j“ lyrics to go j“ j“ lyrics to go j“

q—tip: J“ goin' on and on to the rhythmic variation j“

j“ wakin' in the morning I still represent the nation j“

j“ when I speak of nation please don't make the deviation j“

j“ rebels of the party that create the jump sensation j“

j“ mind is a pit of different information j“j“

Williams: Q-tip just picks the best loops, man. He's just, like, a great loop picker.

He'd pick, like, the illest chord and the baseline and all that.

That shitjust used to hurt, man.

And we're, like, all his sons.

Like, myself.

J dilla, who was without question one of the illest beat makers ever.

Kanye.

We wouldn't be here, man, if it wasn't, like, for tribe albums.

Forget it.

[A tribe called quest's "clap your hands" plays]

Weiss: Their focus was so much about doing the right thing in the recording studio

that I think he was almost not equipped for the amount of stardom

and the level of adoration that the group sort of acclaim... achieved.

He was a reluctant star.

One day he was Jonathan Davis.

The next day he was kamaal the abstract.

I mean, I love q-tip, but, you know, he's a fucking nut. You know.

And, you know, he will be the first to tell you that.

One thing about q-tip, he's a perfectionist.

He'll like something for like a day or two...

Q—tip: Just play it for me.

Phife dawg: And then he'll hear something in it that he ain't feeling.

"Yo, we need to change, boom, boom."

Like on Monday, it's like, "yo, this shit is fire."

Tuesday, Wednesday, "I don't know, kid. I ain't feeling it."

That's just how he get down.

Lighty: And sometimes the creativity becomes a block.

Because we literally had to go in

and take the low end theory album from them.

Like, "give me the fucking album already." Like, "this is crazy."

Look, they played me 20 records and I was like, "all right, we're good.

Give me that album. That's it. I'm out of here."

And we turned it in to jive. Literally, like, "yo, that's it. Give me the album.

Give me the album, man. Come on. What are you guys doing?"

He didn't—...

Yo, he could have been like guns n' roses.

Seven years later, midnight marauders comes out.

He would have been that guy. There's no question.

He could be axl Rose and Dr. Dre if you let him.

He's that creative.

Busta rhymes: How you been? No, it's all good. How you been?

You all right? Come here.

What's going on, brother?

That is my favorite record right here, son.

Word? This is my favorite song, son.

This shit and "lyrics to go," b.

These two records, b, they make me wanna cry every time.

I remember I called this nigga on the phone

when I was just listening to this shit a couple weeks ago, a month ago.

You was in Vegas. I was in Vegas

and I just put this shit on and this shit had me in tears in the car, b.

Jesus Christ, this shit is crazy, b.

[A tribe called quest's "god lives through" playing over speakers]

Q—tip: All that shit.

[Laughing]

[David t. Walker's "on love" plays]

That was, like, one of the last, to me...

One of the last memories of when hip-hop

was just, like, really, really dope.

Rapaport: You were doing your thing. You made three great albums.

You were at the top of your game. What was next?

Actually, I thought tribe called quest was done

after midnight marauders.

I moved to Atlanta right when we were finished

recording midnight marauders.

Right before we went on tour for that campaign.

I moved to Atlanta, September '93.

Midnight marauders came out November '93.

And by the time we got to beats, rhymes and life...

Now this is '96.

So it's like a three-year wait for that album.

The chemistry was dead. Shot.

The beats, rhymes and life album

was probably, really, the beginning of the end.

For no real apparent reason.

Because phife moving to Atlanta shouldn't have affected, you know...

He wanted to have a better life.

He wants to move to Atlanta, let him.

As long as he's here to rhyme and gets his ass to the show, it's all good.

You know, I'm a person that I kind of want everybody to be

in the hut together when we working.

And when there was a lot of separation from the three of us.

And I was just underneath the impression of:

"Damn, b. Let's just knock this out. A little bit more time."

You know what I mean?

He was a control freak, still is a control freak, so...

He's babbling off, "we're gonna do it like this, we're gonna do it like that."

So after a while, it became, "whatever. Do what you want."

But when I finally picked up and bounced to Atlanta, now it becomes:

"Oh, oh, so he can just pick up and leave?

Oh, I'm in charge of this group. How he just gonna do that?"

I'm like, "dude, I'm in a group with you. You're not my daddy."

And this is my feeling. And I love you, kamaal.

But the whole m0 to me was it's not a tribe called quest,

it's q-tip and a tribe called quest.

It's Diana Ross and the supremes.

Okay, so I guess Ali's Mary Wilson and I'm Florence Ballard.

Get the fuck out of here, man.

The only change I saw that really, for me, was challenging

was just to see those guys' relationship deteriorate.

I think as you grow up, you realize it's not just about me.

It's about everyone else.

Weiss: They weren't just the kids from queens anymore.

There was the issue of who's really producing the records.

Is it Ali? Is it q-tip? Who's j dilla? Who's this new guy?

Why is consequence on the record?

Why bring him in? What's he got to do with this?

J“ just a little somethin'-somethin' j“

j“ about the cats who be fronting j“j“

phife dawg: We pretty much knew before the recording of the love movement

that this was it.

You better get your wind up, because this is the last dance.

That was it. We knew it. We knew it.

It's weird to me that it would be called the love movement

because we really were not loving that album.

We were not loving putting out that album.

We didn't even love each other at the time, so to speak.

Jarobi: I starting hearing about things

and through the process of recording the love movement,

I peeked my head in more. That's a beautiful album.

The whole sentiment about it. It's the love movement.

Hm. I don't know. You know what I'm saying?

It should have been called the last movement.

You know what I'm saying?

Tribe called quest kept their act together for 10 productive years.

This influential group is calling it quits

following a year of personal turmoil and record-biz frustration.

[Jjj]

I think the first time I realized that tribe was breaking up

was when we had this conversation with Barry weiss.

And it wasn't a good conversation.

Barry hung up. We had an argument or whatever.

And I said to phife and Ali, I was like, "yo, man, you feel what this is?"

And then Ali was like, "yup." And then phife was like, mm.

I was like, "yo, man, I think this is probably a wrap.

They don't respect us.

They're kind of moving on. They're not hearing what we saying.

Let's just stop it here. I don't want to just keep battling with these dudes.

I mean, what do y'all think?"

And he was like, "yeah, I'm with it. You right."

That was the moment that it actually happened. You know what I mean?

He kind of made the decision on his own,

which I can understand and I can't understand.

He told Malik what was happening.

And he showed him and all the letter that he was writing

to say about us dissolving and shit like that.

And I remember their reactions just kind of being like:

"Word?"

For me, I felt like, "you know what?

We've probably exhausted every effort that we can here.

And just on a creative level, yeah, this is not working out."

So me, I was at peace with it the moment tip said:

"I don't want to do this anymore."

So it's a matter of, "I understand. I love you."

"Love you too." Phew.

Once that was over, I mean, phife had a different perspective,

but me, ifelt like, whew, weight lifted off my shoulder.

We were preparing for a tour and it was just like, "okay. So now what?"

Phife dawg: The very last show was New York.

On the real, I just want to say one thing and shit.

Y'all have definitely been there to support. You know what I'm saying?

[Crowd cheering]

Yo, that shit really mean a lot. You know?

For real, that shit mean a lot to a nigga.

Because a nigga put his heart and soul in this shit.

So that's all I gotta say, yo. One.

That's when it hit me that, okay, this is it.

I cried like a little baby.

If you're used to something for your whole adulthood...

And I'm talking 17, and the group broke up when I was 28.

Tribe called quest, y'all, '98.

That's your whole adulthood, pretty much.

I dropped out of high school, unfortunately.

You know what I'm saying? Idiot.

But that's all I've known since I was 17, 18 years old

is rhyming and getting paid for it.

I guess I thought tribe called quest was the start-all, end-all.

There may be bumps and bruises, but as long as we got this right here,

we all right.

[Phil Hewitt jazz ensemble's "Donna" plays]

Phife dawg: It was a bitter breakup. It was bitter. I couldn't stand kamaal at that point.

He felt his way, I felt my way.

And I'm no means... This ain't a bash q-tip...

You know? This ain't none of that.

I'm just documenting.

It's like, "dude, you basically shitted on everything we worked for."

You know? It's like, "come on, how you could do that?"

And at least be honest with me.

Like, "yo, I really want to embark on my solo shit.

I think we don't have anything left to say as a group."

I don't think I'd agree with him, but I could walk away from it

because at least he sat me down as my man 50 grand

and told me that.

It was never that.

[Jjj]

Q—tip: The thing inside me that made me continue on with music of my own

is because I'm an artist and I love music.

It's who I am. Know what I'm saying?

There's no retirement in this for me, because music is not a sport.

Athletes retire because they are not physically able to do it anymore.

Sammy Davis did it to death. Duke Ellington did it to death.

James brown did it to death. Mj did it to death. You know?

There's no retirement in this.

So I just wanted to continue to make music and express myself.

Boo. Yes.

This really reminds me of when we first got together.

Why?

See, we was attached at the hip, son.

[Jjj]

Deisha: I just try to tell him that he needs to just make peace with tip

and just keep it moving.

But you guys never own up to what...

Right, right. You're right. I'm not saying I'm not wrong for that.

But at the same time, I don't totally put it all on him

and just put him on blast.

That's why I'm saying a therapist would be important...

Phife dawg: No, no, no. I ain't messing with no therapist.

I'm sorry for being stubborn. I'm sorry.

It'll never work, then. I'm just not into all of that.

I don't believe in paying some dude or lady...

But that's the only way that you're gonna be able to rebuild a friendship.

For him or her to be like, "you know what you guys' problem are?"

No, I know what the problem is. I'm not paying you to tell me nothing.

Deisha: You're not banded as a group anymore

but when you come together to do a tour once every couple years

and you're still bickering, it's not gonna work.

So I don't think they can ever work together.

It's sad, and it saddens my heart

because I love tribe, but it is what it is.

Poor Ali's in the middle.

[Laughs]

I feel bad for him. I really do, because he's...

[Phife dawg sighs]

Ali: For me, I still wake up every day

and still hear rhythms dancing through my head.

[Over speakers] J“ what you fail to comprehend j“

j“ is love's unlikely end j“j“

Ali: Venturing off into doing outside production,

forming another group, Lucy Pearl,

and still doing, you know, my solo record,

I think that there's gonna be disappointment

because people are like, "why you going off doing this?

You should come back here to do this thing that we like so much."

Do I not do it because I can't rock with this crew?

No, you gotta live your life, move on.

I think it's important for people to understand that.

Yeah, I know how sweet it would be

with this element that you're accustomed to.

But why don't you give this other thing a chance?

If you really open yourself to listening, then you're gonna see

the same spirit that guided this ship is guiding this ship, you know.

Bye. It was good seeing you.

Thankyousornuch. Bye, guys man1:Myman

man 2: Tell him what we did on the way to the Hamptons?

Blige: Yeah, playing all the tribe called...

Y'all know we diehard fans for the rest of our lives.

Man 1: Good to meet you. Blige: Please.

Rapaport: I'm sure tribe gets show offers all the time,

so, what made you guys finally go back out on tour in 2008?

[A tribe called quest's "award tour" plays]

Based out of, actually, phife's, you know, medical situation

and having to pay for his diabetes being so progressed

that he said: "I think we need to take in one of these offers."

J“ we on award tour with Muhammad my man j“

j“ goin' each and every place with a Mike in their hand j“j“

q—tip: We all spoke about it and we all came to an agreement about it.

And the thing that motivated me to do it was phife.

Because he was sick and he asked.

He asked me and I said, "you got it."

Phife dawg: By the time rock the bells came about in '08, I was doing hemodialysis,

which means I was going to the actual clinic

three days out of the week.

Being that the rock the bells shows were strictly on weekends was perfect.

But rock the bells was pretty much

the straw that broke the camel's back for the second time.

Ali: This group is headlining this tour.

We're talking about with nas, mos def, de la soul.

This is like the tour.

You have us, we had our own internal drama

and a hint that there may be beef?

Yeah, I wanna go see that.

[Playing "buggin' out"]

[Audience cheering]

[Yells]

J“ microphone check, one, two what is this? J“

j“ the five foot assassin with the roughneck business j“j“

phife dawg: That show in la. When you first started shooting,

we get on the stage, we doing the damn thing.

My blood pressure's dropping

because when you do dialysis, it tends to fluctuate.

It's not a good feeling when that shit is dropping too low.

And I'm performing. Whoo!

[Playing "find a way"]

J“ she was j“

j“ messing me up, my whole head j“

j“ teasing me just like tisha j“j“

phife dawg: There was a portion of the show where I had to lean on jarobi

to get them rhymes out, but I'm still grooving, playing it off.

All of that's in vain because this dude q-tip

gets on the Mike in front of the crowd and says:

Q—tip: Look alive. Look at phife dawg.

Phife dawg: If he knew what I was going through, he wouldn't do shit like that.

That was it for me.

I'm like, "okay, Duke. You're in trouble right now. You got it coming."

[Jjj]

Q—tip: Phife told everybody on tour that he was fine.

You know, he was well enough to perform on those shows.

So my whole thing was like, man, I'm out here for you, dog.

Like, I'm out here for you. I don't have to be here.

But I'm out here because you're my man.

So now you coming at me about some sort of beef.

Literally four minutes from walking on-stage

and you're not gonna say anything to me

while we're going on-stage to perform?

Q—tip: What's up, Malik? You all right? You not talking to me?

Phife dawg: No, not right now.

[Speaking indistinctly]

[Speaking indistinctly]

Q—tip: What the fuck is wrong with you? What the fuck is wrong with you?

Phife dawg: I don't give a fuck how you feel. Fuck you, kamaal.

Phife dawg: No, no, no!

[Phife dawg shouting indistinctly]

Q—tip: What the fuck is wrong with you, man?

What the fuck is wrong with you?

Phife dawg: No! No, no!

[Speaking indistinctly]

I ain't speaking to him. I'm not speaking to you.

[Chattering]

I gotta go start the show!

He hit me in my face.

You serious? Yeah.

Phife dawg: What happened, I was trying to walk by and I nudged him.

Boyce-Taylor: My heart is racing.

We cool, mom, we cool. We cool. No racing. No racing.

No, because I don't want you all to fight, Malik.

[Speaking indistinctly]

[Jjj]

[Inaudible dialogue]

Rapaport: Do you guys think this is the last tribe called quest show?

I hope it is.

Rapaport: Do you really?

Yeah. It's disappointing.

The guys probably know my sentiments about it.

I'm a fan. To me, I feel like when we see tribe on-stage,

we want to believe that there's love.

And if it's really not,

and behind the scenes it's some bs going on,

I'd rather them not be up there.

Yo, this is my family. This is who I came up with.

This was one of my best summers, tuning this situation.

My family knows about this.

They watching me hurt at home with this. You know what I'm saying?

Means a lot to me. Y'all who I grew up with this.

It's not fun to me no more. Right.

Phife dawg: I can't ever put a finger on q-tip

even though we've known each other longer

than anybody in this world outside of our respective families.

I guess you could call it a love-hate relationship.

Maseo: Even when you came over and said, "what's up," it was cold.

[Laughs]

Because the nigga did not speak to me.

Maseo: I understand. I understand. I'm walking on-stage, the nigga...

"There's a spin magazine, it says 'q-tip.'" "Oh, word?"

So let me check it out, see what he talking about.

"How did you and phife mend y'all differences in order to go on tour?"

And things of that nature.

"I never had a problem with phife. Phife had a problem with me."

Like just kick me under the rug, throw me under the bus.

Like I'm just this crazy, loony motherfucker.

I never said no shit negative about him in the press.

And in this comment, I was self-effacing.

I said, "yo, I never had a problem with phife.

He's had a problem with me because I'm opinionated."

I never had a problem with him. I really didn't.

And that's hon... Yo, I swear I didn't.

I'm like, "yo, stop throwing me under the bus in interviews or some bullshit.

It's not like that. It's not going down like that.

If you don't have nothing nice to say about me, say nothing at all."

He's saying shit like in texting, "I've had diabetes since 1990.

I've been suffering. You've been a pain in my side way before that."

Like that's some hurtful shit to say.

That's some real faggoty, hurtful shit to say.

Why the fuck you gonna say that?

If you feel it's q-tip and a tribe called quest

at least man up and say that shit.

That way, I could respect you to the 30th power if not more.

At least you said the shit.

I'm not gonna say fucking "written by tip" or "produced by tip."

Because it's about the tribe. It's about the fucking unit, b.

It's about the fucking unit. It's about all of us.

I didn't single myself out

to make myself out to be the fucking ginsu master of this shit, b.

That's why the shit says fucking "tribe called quest."

Maseo: I'm glad you said that. Niggas do rake you out...

Yeah, but that's why the shit said "tribe."

Why you always gotta be the center of attention?

You know, in the midst of being the center of attention

that's cool if you wanna play Michael,

but stop trying to front like I'm tito or some shit.

You know what I'm saying? And no disrespect to tito.

It's just the whole tito played the background,

so phife's just supposed to play the background and shut the fuck up.

If I'm asking you if something wrong, say the shit, b.

Don't fucking come in and talk all this crazy loose shit.

That shit just make me angry, man. Fuck it.

And it's like I never even tried to do that, b, with this dude.

So for all of this shit that I'm getting

like I'm self-centered

and I'm this egotistical dude and I'm... you know what I'm saying.

And I only think about myself and all that shit.

It's bullshit.

That shit is bullshit, man.

[Inaudible dialogue]

Rapaport: Have you heard from tip?

I haven't heard from tip since the last show in Seattle.

You know what I'm saying? I didn't really expect to,

but, you know, it is what it is, you know.

I'm about to have surgery. That kidney transplantation.

I'm scared as hell,

you know what I mean, but I'm brave enough to get it done

because I got a lot more living to do and things to do.

Yeah, when he first started taking his Insulin stuff, that was hard, you know.

But when it started really affecting his health, that was really, really difficult.

I said I wasn't gonna start crying.

Hooph.

I mean, that's my heart, man. You know what I'm saying?

And to see him have to go through that shit was very difficult, man, because

I mean, that's my boy. I wish I could just take all that shit away. You know?

And not really...

I mean,

I came to Atlanta to try to take care of this dude, you know what I'm saying?

I used to cook meals and shit like that

to make sure he's eating the right food and shit like that. I mean...

I don't have a lot of words for that, but, I mean, you can tell my level

of how invested I am in him.

I'm not really scared of shit.

But that's the most fearful I've ever been about anything in my life.

That shit was really difficult.

I've been through a lot, dog. I've been through a lot.

So, you know, nobody can't tell me nothing.

[Jjj]

To make a long story short, my father was supposed to be my donor.

But his health wasn't up to par where he could be.

He couldn't do it.

Then my former manager, he wasn't able to do it.

We just found out not too long ago that my wife is my donor.

[Jjj]

She got tested.

All of a sudden, she just came home, she was like, "boo, I'm a match."

Yo.

Can't ask for anything more, man.

I don't even know how to thank her, like...

You know what I'm saying? Rapaport: Yeah.

My whole family was crying.

Um, I found out recently that I am a match for his kidney.

So I'll be giving Malik one of my kidneys.

The surgery, the actual surgery, is gonna take a couple of hours.

And we will be in the hospital for four to seven days.

Recovery time will be four to six weeks.

I will be able to survive with one kidney with no problems.

And Malik should be fine as long as his body accepts the kidney.

This is my best friend, Donna. Woman: Hi.

Deisha: I firmly believe that people are placed in your lives

for a reason and a season.

And I just think that that's what happened with us.

And god placed me in your life for a reason and definitely a season.

Phife dawg: I'm cool.

I'm cool. I guess I'll be nervous when it's about to go down.

You know what I'm saying, but I'm a new yorker, man.

You know what I'm saying.

We tough like that. You know what I mean? You know.

Y'all know what time it is in Cali. We tough.

No, I'm just playing.

Q-tip text me.

That meant a lot, you know what I mean,

because I really didn't expect it.

Not because he's a bad person or anything like that,

but we've been going through our little...

I don't even know what to call it

because it's really bullshit at the end of the day, on both of our parts.

So, I mean, I really didn't expect that, but I did need that.

You know what I'm saying? From him specifically, so that's all good.

He just said, "good luck. Godspeed. Speedy recovery."

Real simple and to the point.

That's all I really needed, you know?

I didn't really need a novel or anything like that.

It's just the smaller things mean a lot, you know what I'm saying?

So that was hot. You know what I'm saying?

[Q-tip featuring Norah Jones' "life is better" plays]

J“ life's filled with gray j“

j“ but now it comes clean j“

q—tip: Yo, what up, yo? This is your boy q-tip right here.

Well, right now I'm in NYC because my album came out today.

Nice to meet you. That new single is hot, man.

I just wanted to make something that was just hopefully inspirational.

After we witness history and vote today, the renaissance is right there.

It's q-tip. You can go purchase that, go cop that, go download that.

J“ life is better j“

j“ now that now that I've found you j“

q—tip: You know, I produced the first three tribe albums.

It's just my thing to produce and to do music, so it felt at home.

I'm not gonna do... I mean, we're family, we love each other,

but, you know, it's pretty much ran its course.

J“ one step at a time a man walked on the moon j“

j“ one record got played kool herc said boom j“

j“ one minute, young man your time come soon j“

j“ we waiting j“j“

woman: The word on the town is

some of the reviews on this album are pretty amazing.

Yeah, man.

Looks like the source is giving me a five-miker.

Woman: Really? And rumblings at xxl's of xxls.

Entertainment weekly gave me an a. I don't care. I don't read that stuff.

But let me go on. The Chicago tribune...

[All laughing]

[A tribe called quest's "stressed out" plays]

J“ I really know how it feels to be stressed out j“j“

[audience cheering]

You know who this is!

You know who this is!

Q—tip: Throw your motherfucking hands up in the air! Y'all know why we here!

We here for hip-hop, y'all know what it is.

Rapaport: Is it weird for you when you do solo shows

to perform tribe songs and phife's not there?

Like wrapping your head around that shit?

Q—tip: Is it weird? No, because the music is there,

people come to hear it and enjoy it.

You have to give people, to a degree, what they ask for

and what they need and what they want. You know?

So I have no qualms with it at all.

[Grunting]

[Yelling]

[Hip-hop music playing over speakers]

Q—tip: Then there's a whole new generation out there.

My whole thing ever since the beginning of tribe

is to not preach to the converted, you know.

It's my duty to go out and crusade for more.

You know what I mean?

You fucking made my trip. Q-tip: So that's my approach.

[Jjj]

To really move toward, you can't forget where you been at on any level.

I remember my neighborhood. I remember my real true-blue friends.

I remember the music I made with tribe.

I remember all of that.

And all of that informs me as I take my next step ahead.

[Jjj]

Ali: A tribe called quest,

even though it has been somewhat a out-of-business business,

it is still a business.

We've been blessed to have promoters

interested in booking the group.

So through the years, even though we haven't been together,

we've been getting show offers out the wazoo.

Phife dawg: I really thought I was a dead man walking.

It's the realest thing I ever been through in my life.

What do you do when you receive a treasure like that?

[Record scratching]

Hi, I'm obviously Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

And this is my job.

This is what I do. I speak with my hands.

Fuck that rap shit.

Enjoy the rehearsal today.

We're old-ass men. Don't know what the fuck we're doing.

And we'll see you in Japan.

Tribe called quest ichiban.

[Over speakers] J“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ you can't touch me no, you can't touch me j“

j“ them can't hold me no, them can't j“

[record scratching]

[Both speaking indistinctly]

Q-tip: Yeah, and then we should turn around and separate it.

It's gonna be hard to turn around in the middle of that, you know?

So when he's cutting... That shit's gonna be bad.

[Laughing]

Man: You guys are going back to dancing.

But then you just go, boom, boom, boom.

Like turn around on a four-step type shit.

Let's try it.

J“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

[laughs]

[Record scratching]

J“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

j“ I'm bound to wreck your body and say turn the party out j“

q—tip: Phife dawg!

J“ them can't touch me no, them can't touch me j“

j“ them can't hold me no, them can't hold me j“

j“ them can't touch me no, them can't touch me j“

j“ them can't hold me no j“

q—tip: J“ yo, son, yo you ain't fat j“

j“ yeah, I know I look antithetic j“

j“ Ali Shaheed Mohammad had me doing calisthenics j“

j“ needless to say, boy I'm bad to the bone j“

j“ makin' love to my Mike like jarobi on the phone j“

j“ but, um, no time for talk j“ j“ what? J“

j“ there's bills to be paid j“ j“ what? J“

j“ chumps to be sprayed chicks to be laid j“

j“ come on j“ j“ check it out j“

j“ my man, watch your back j“

j“ '93 means skills are a must so never lack j“

j“ sit back, relax, come on watch the birdie j“

j“ your styles are incomplete just like vinny testaverde j“

j“ battlin'? Whenever, hot damn j“

j“ give me the microphone, boy one time, bam j“

phife dawg: No matter who liked who, who didn't get along with who,

for the moment or for the long haul,

we were a family at the end of the day. We were a family.

This is a tribe called go figure.

You don't know what's gonna happen, but that's kind of the fun part too.

J“... hard rock and cock the glock j“

j“ and walk the city street on the jury, they hot j“

q—tip: Me and phife, that's my brother. You know, I love him dearly.

It's weird because I think we always viewed our roles as the same.

Like although we months apart in age, I was always like, "that's my little man."

And I think he always looked at me like:

"Yeah, I got your back. Don't worry. I'm phife dawg." You know what I'm saying?

Q—tip: J“ turn this shit up and let's blast it in here j“

phife dawg: J“ rock, rock on j“

j“ Tokyo, rock, rock on j“

j“ Tokyo, rock, rock on j“ j“ Japan, rock, rock on j“

j“ Tokyo, rock, rock on j“

j“ Tokyo, rock, rock on j“

j“ Ali Shaheed, rock, rock on j“

j“ the abstract, rock, rock on j“

j“ phife diggy dawg to the break of dawn j“

j“ move back yourself, man come watch me rock it j“

Ali: In looking at our fans,

we put into the music the encouragement of self-identity,

to have knowledge of yourself, of where you come from.

But for nothing else that you make music,

what a better reason to be remembered for.

Q—tip: J“ noticin' my stature the niggas know we gotcha j“

j“ movin' with the rapture listen to how we catch you j“

j“ here we go now lift your case, let's begin j“

j“ look at people jump out their goddamn skin j“

j“ lyrically we bite like we rin tin tin j“

j“ peace to grand pu and his many, many skins j“

j“ don't Mark us with the arrow 'cause you know we got the wins j“

j“ it's the ab, shah j“ j“ it's the dawg, Shaheed j“

j“ and the dawg for the blend j“j“

[audience cheering]

Q—tip: I think the reason why a tribe called quest

is still relevant today after all this time is because it was truth.

It was honesty, man.

We made an institution of music

that we never sold the spirit of that to anybody.

We didn't compromise that.

When you saw us and you got to touch us,

it was just a real experience, you know?

So it was important to, like, not overkill the shit and just make the shit right

and just really touch people's hearts

and become a thing like that rather than over-the-top it.

So looking back in hindsight,

it could have been some things we could have did differently,

but the way it turned out...

Turned out good, man. Rapaport: They still want you.

They still want us, baby. They still want us.

J“ drifting by totally j“

j“ drifting by just totally j“

j“ drifting by just totally j“

j“ the deadly venom let me start from the beginning j“

j“ we always hittin' so, yo, there'll be no extra innings j“

j“ 'cause I'll send the Mike out the park like Reggie Jackson j“

j“ you be the minor leaguer who sees no action j“j“

what up, y'all? Right here, right now,

I am large professor, the mad scientist, xtra p.

I am monie love.

I am talib kweli.

I am all Shaheed Muhammad.

What's going on? I am 9th wonder.

I am black thought. I am prince Paul.

I am dres.

I am Danny boy. I am mca.

I am posdnuos, plug one. That's me.

I am ad-rock.

I am everlast.

I am ludacris.

Before I say my name, I just wanna ask tip

what the fuck did you use for crooklyn Dodgers?

What's the filtered joint? That's what I wanna know.

Please answer that.

The filtered joint under the whole main of crooklyn Dodgers.

Please. What's up? It's Dave. I am positively q-tip.

I am consequence from a tribe called quest.

I am Pete rock, the chocolate boy wonder.

I am Chang weisberg.

I am Amir "questlove" Thompson.

I am Mike d. I am pharrell Williams.

I am Freddy Rodriguez.

I am Kenny "the jet" Smith.

I am Malik izaak Taylor, a.K.A. Phife diggy.

I am skeff anselm.

I am mos def.

And that's the truth. Maseo: I am Vincent Mason,

a.k.a. Dj maseo.

I am dj lethal. I am dj red alert.

I am Mike g. I am a jungle brother.

Beatnuts, we here. New York. We ain't going nowhere.

I am a-plus.

I am phesto d.

I am tajai. I am opio.

I am Dante Ross. I be Dante Ross.

I be Barry weiss. I be Jim swaffield.

I be too short.

I am Chris lighty, and I be the violatest.

I am Angie Martinez.

Yeah, yeah. I am special k from awesome 2.

I am the ooh child, a.K.A. Teddy tedd, awesome 2.

I am bobbito Garcia, a.K.A. Kool Bob love,

formerly known as dj cucumberslice,

a.k.a. Bobbito the barber, the edge up king, the king of swing,

known on the ball courts as soul food Bob,

boogie Bob, bag of tricks and make it happen.

I am jarobi.

A, e, I, o, u.

And sometimes y, motherfucker.

[Laughs]

J“ check it out j“

check what out? Yo, check this out.

J“ yo, microphone check, one, two what is this? J“

j“ the five foot assassin with the roughneck business j“

j“ I float like gravity never had a cavity j“

j“ got more rhymes than the winans got family j“

j“ no need to sweat arsenio to gain some type of fame j“

j“ no shame in my game 'cause I always be the same j“

j“ styles upon styles upon styles is what I have j“

j“ you wanna dis the phifer but you still don't know the half j“

j“ I sport new balance sneakers to avoid a narrow path j“

j“ mess around with this you catch the size of them j“

j“ I never half step 'cause I'm not a half stepper j“

j“ drink a lot of soda so they call me Dr. Pepper j“

j“ refuse to compete with bs competition j“

j“ your name ain't special ed so won't you seckle with "the mission"? J“

j“ I never walk the streets think it's all about me j“

j“ even though deep in my heart it really could be j“

j“ I just try my best to, like, go all out j“

j“ some might even say yo, shorty black, you're buggin' out j“

j“ zulu nation brothers, that's creation j“

j“ minds get flooded ejaculation j“

j“ right on the two-inch tape j“

j“ the abstract poet incognito, see, I run the cape j“

j“ not the best, not the worst but occasionally I curse j“

j“ to get my point across so bust the floss j“

j“ as I go in between the grit and the dirt j“

j“ listen to the mission listen, miss, as I do work j“j“