New York, NY (May 13, 2008) – DX has a good feature up on A Tribe Called Quest. They are headlining Rock The Bells this summer, and their collaboration (after so many years of inactivity as a group) has stirred hope of a new album. Read the full interview here, and check below for an excerpt:
HipHopDX: It’s been awhile. What made you all decide, “We gotta get together again”?
Ali: Honestly, I think any time that, looking at our history, our career or how long it’s been that we’ve been in the music business, how long it’s been that we haven’t been in…When you receive an invitation, you gotta look at where you are like, “Who am I to deny this?” It’s a blessing. Especially when it’s called Rock the Bells, which, in and of itself, means a lot just as a quote. Then, looking at what these guys, Guerrilla Union are bringing with all the acts [click to read], how can we not be a part of this?
DX: You talk about the name Rock the Bells. You hear the history with Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and then now, with you guys…how does it add fire or pressure up under you to perform even better?
Phife: Wow! I wouldn’t say it adds pressure at all. But, we need to hit the gym. That’s it. [Laughs]
Ali: It just reminds me of some of our early shows when we used to wear hooded robes. At that point in time, no one was doing what we was doing. I can't speak for these guys, but for me, it was a lot of nerves but it took a lot of balls to step out and do that and have confidence in what we knew we had. We always maintained that. Be it 1989 or be it 2009, I think that's our spirit. We love what we do and we want to make sure that the people out there know what it's about. It’s always been the same for us.
