Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Phife (of ATCQ) speaks on documentary

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“To be honest, I was totally caught off-guard when Ali [Shaheed Muhammad] called me one day, a day before the Rock the Bells show in L.A. that you guys saw onscreen, and Ali gave me a heads up that Mike was gonna call me and talk about this so-called documentary. And Mike called me like two minutes after Ali because he doesn’t play at all,” Phife shared.

Phife Dawg, sidekick to front man Q-Tip over the years, was on hand with Rapaport during a Q&A session, filmed by New York magazine to discuss some of the inner workings of the crew and the difficulty the group faced in agreeing to let the first time director film them at their rawest moments.

Phife went on to say, “I said, ‘Yo, it sounds cool,’ and I’m thinking “Behind the Music”-ish, I’m thinking ‘Driven.’ You know those shows, and I love those shows. But for me? I don’t mind being in Lil Wayne and Pink’s business, but for me to put Tribe’s business out there? We were in a funny place … but I asked Mike, ‘How real can I keep it? It’s kinda messy right now, man. I don’t know if this should be done.’ ”

The five-foot assassin added, “I said, ‘Ali agreed?’ [Rapaport said] ‘Yeah.’ [I said,] ‘Jarobi agreed?’ [Rapaport said,] ‘Yeah.’ ‘Last but not least, Q-Tip the Abstract Poetic agreed?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, I’m all in … ‘ ”

The discussion then turned emotional as the usually cocky MC broke down into humble tears discussing how appreciative he was for the opportunity and how much the film meant to him.

“I knew at the end of the day there were gonna be bumps in the road just like any group. But I’m just so happy to be here, witnessing. I wish … [Phife breaks down] I wish the rest of them were here, man. ‘Cause they don’t understand like, I listen to you guys’ responses throughout the movie. Q-Tip has no idea how many people love him. He was up there crackin’ jokes, talkin’ about the ‘Can I Kick It?’ beat drums. You guys were dyin’ [with] laughter,” Phife Dawg said. – RapFix

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