I’ve seen my friends’ lives be saved because of music. What is it about music that makes it worth taking seriously? I take music incredibly seriously, and therefore, I want to represent that seriousness in my work.

I think the way the writer approaches criticism should at least be poetic in nature, or take on traits of beauty, with the searching, curious instinct that poems have, and the whimsical, magical nature that poems are trying to achieve. HANIF ABDURRAQIB: In short, I believe that criticism deserves the most beautiful writing possible. How did you come to synthesize poetry and criticism this way? INDY : I think a lot of people who wouldn’t usually seek out a music biography will respond to your A Tribe Called Quest book, and your essays in general, because they’re so much about lyricism and storytelling, and your personal history is woven into the music history. We recently reached Abdurraqib by phone to discuss blending poetry and criticism, why music deserves to be taken seriously, and coming to terms with Q-Tip going pop. On Sunday, Abdurraqib closes out the revamped North Carolina Book Festival (see sidebar below) at Kings with a reading at 2:45 p.m., preceded by a panel discussion on Tribe featuring Mark Anthony Neal, Natalie Bullock Brown, and David Menconi. The book is also a compelling snapshot of a nineties rap industry in transition from the golden age to gangster rap to the shiny-suit era. He writes about music with the same controlled lyricism and fine antenna for the vibrations of race in America as is found in his first full-length poetry collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, a voice he develops further in his second collection, due out from Tin House Books this fall.Ībdurraqib’s new University of Texas Press book about the seminal Queens-bred hip-hop group blends personal narrative, musical reportage, cultural analysis, and letters penned to members of the group in order to open windows into the author’s life and explain why Tribe matters, from early classics like The Low End Theory through their era-ending breakup on the cover of The Source, and onward, through future victories, tragedies, and reunions. In part, that’s because its author, Hanif Abdurraqib, is an accomplished poet as well as a widely published music journalist and cultural critic. G o Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest is a book about music, but it’s far from your standard music biography.

Hanif abdurraqib a tribe called quest