STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Phife Says Tribe Never Got Paid for "Can I Kick It"

The Five-Foot Assassin also spoke about a possible Tribe reunion album.

"Can I Kick It?" was one of A Tribe Called Quest's biggest hits — but their bank accounts apparently couldn't tell the difference.
Via The Hip Hop Chronicle U.K., during a performance in London, Tribe member Phife Dawg performed the seminal 1991 cut and explained that rocker Lou Reed recouped all royalties from the song because of its sample from his hit “Walk on the Wild Side.”

“That was on our first album [People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm] and the sample is Lou Reed. F--k Lou Reed, man!" he told the sold-out crowd, there to see him perform and watch a screening of the acclaimed Tribe documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life. "F--k him. Because we didn’t see no money from that f--kin’ record yet. Really. Here’s what happened — and I take back saying, ‘F--k Lou Reed,’ because Lou Reed has every right to say, ‘Give me my motherf--king money.' Lou Reed could have easily said, ‘Oh yeah, a rap group use my s--t? Alright.’ No. Anita Baker don’t let nobody use her s--t, period... So Lou Reed, instead of saying no altogether, he was like, ‘Yeah, nice! Give me the motherf--king money.’ Like Smokey in Friday.”

Phife also spoke about the aforementioned Tribe doc, which depicted the heated disagreements between Phife and Tribe front man Q-Tip. “What you have to realize with the movie is that we’re all human beings, number one," he told the crowd. "We’ve known each other since we were two years old. A lot of times, it seems like the people who are most close to you, you take for granted and do some crazy things, you say some crazy things. But at the end of the day, it’s all love. You have to also realize that this movie started filming in 2008 and it’s now 2011, almost 2012. Me and Q-Tip is fine. But as far as when is A Tribe Called Quest coming to London? I’m not exactly sure, because we can’t even be in the same room at the same time. It’s very difficult, but hopefully, there will be a new album.”
We hope so too, Phife.

 

 

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.

(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.