The new A Tribe Called Quest documentary “Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest” may be the subject of heated debate within the group itself, but at least one member remains in full support of the project.
Phife Dawg, who attended the movie's premiere at Sundance earlier this year without any of his Tribe brethren, told Sway of MTV News that he supports the Michael Rapaport-directed doc "100 percent."
"How many groups in hip hop got documentaries being done about themselves?" Phife queried. "The way I look at it, I want to benefit from the fruits of our labor while they're still ripe."
Other members of the Tribe, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammed and Jarobi, have taken issue with the film, primarily due to their belief that the movie's backers didn't honor the group's role as co-producers on the project and refused to listen to their input. Despite these issues, however, Q-Tip has encouraged fans to see the documentary, even commending Rapaport for doing "an amazing job."
Phife believes that his longtime friends should be able to look past the production drama and see the bigger picture.
"They came to A Tribe Called Quest and asked us; we're supposed to count our blessings and embrace this joint right here," he said.
“Beats, Rhymes and Life” opens in theaters on July 8.

(Photo: Brian Ach/Getty Images)