A slew of hip-hop stars including The Roots, Black Thought, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes and Common all came together in a major jam for A Tribe Called Quest at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday.
Comedian Dave Chappelle was on hand to induct the group into the museum, and he welcomed the crowd’s applause with an “O-H” … “I-O” shout-out at the beginning of his induction speech, which honored the defining hip-hop group. “Being at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is not something that a Black kid in New York in 1985 could ever even imagine to dream of,” Chappelle said in his speech. “And I don't believe that was ever the point of A Tribe Called Quest.”
Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White stepped onto the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse stage to accept their award, along with Phife Dawg’s father Walt Taylor (Phife died in 2016). “Rest in peace to our brother Phife Dawg,” Q-Tip said. “I wish you were here.”
Then the musician spoke to the band’s origins and early years.
“The need to express burned in us with an art-fueled determination; the spark that embers within many of us in this room, and the spark that burned within the four of us boys in 1985 in New York City,” Q-Tip said.
Following their induction speech, a hip-hop jam for the ages took place, featuring Queen Latifah on “Can I Kick It?,” Common on “Bonita Applebum” and Busta Rhymes, of course, on his hit song with A Tribe Called Quest, “Scenario.” The Roots jammed in the background, as they did in all of the night's performances.
“Tribe, thank you tribe,” Busta said at the end of the song. “Ya’ll gave birth to me, Tribe.”
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