Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest tells the story of the stars' rise to fame and is actor Michael Rapaport's first feature film as a director.
The project has been marred in controversy for several months, after Q-Tip publicly hit out at Rapaport for failing to "respect" the band's wishes -- allegations stemming from a rumoured feud over production credits. Phife was the only founding member to attend the documentary's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, but Muhammad was an unannounced guest at the Tribeca screening on Wednesday (April 27).
Speaking on the red carpet, Phife admitted he had no idea his friend had planned to come out and attend the premiere, and he's hoping the effort will prompt Q-Tip and fellow Questmember Jarobi White to move to a reconciliation.
Phife told WENN, "I'm glad to see him here. I spoke to him earlier today and I didn't even know he'd be here, but I'm glad to see him so that's a step in the right direction for the rest of the group. We gotta take it (reconciliation) one day at a time. I hope it starts with this movie. Hopefully it will propel us to come to our senses as a unit."
Meanwhile, director Rapaport revealed the film is the result of years of hard work, after encountering a number of issues during the making of the documentary.
He said, "It's a love letter to hip-hop; it's a love letter to A Tribe Called Quest. Their music has meant something to me since I first heard it. I grew up listening to hip-hop on the radio... and doing it was a labour of love."
"The easiest thing about making this movie was starting it. Everything else has been a challenge, but getting started was a couple of phone calls."
But he wants hip-hop fans of all ages check out the film and get to know A Tribe Called Quest as one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time.
He added, "I want people to be reminded about how special that time in hip-hop was, and to be reminded of how A Tribe Called Quest was. I want them to have a good time and if you've never heard of A Tribe Called Quest or heard their music, I want you to be introduced to them."
yoraps.com