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Independent Film Quarterly's Shawn Lukaszewicz sat down with Michael Rapaport before the LA Premiere of Rapaport's directorial debut BEATS, RYHMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, a documentary about one of the most influential and
groundbreaking musical groups in hip-hop history.

A hard-core fan himself, Rapaport sets out on tour with A Tribe Called Quest in 2008, when they
reunited to perform sold-out concerts across the country, almost ten years after the release of
their last album, The Love Movement. As he travels with the band members (Q-Tip, Phife Dawg,
Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White), Rapaport captures the story of how tenuous their
relationship has become; how their personal differences and unresolved conflicts continue to be a
threat to their creative cohesion. When mounting tensions erupt backstage during a show in San
Francisco, we get a behind-the-scenes look at their journey and contributions as a band and what
currently is at stake for these long-time friends and collaborators

Michael Rapaport got his break at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival in the
award winning film Zebrahead. Since then, Rapaport has appeared in over 40 notable films
including, True Romance, Higher Learning, Beautiful Girls, Copland and Woody Allen’s Mighty
Aphrodite and Small Time Crooks. In 2006, he earned critical acclaim for his performance in the
film Special, which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Rapaport has also had many
standout appearances on hit television shows such as “Friends”, “Boston Public” and “My Name
is Earl”.