The Night Q-Tip Cried In Front Of Me: Friendship, Loss, and the Inner Workings of A Tribe Called Quest

They were childhood friends, they broke up, they found a way back together. Sort of.

So I’m in Q-Tip’s house in New Jersey, in the basement, sitting with him just outside of the studio. He’s crying. Bawling. Face-in-hands sobbing. This was in 2016, just a few months after Phife passed away from complications of diabetes. Tip was letting it out because there was a lot to let out.

Tribe was always Tip’s group. He was the leader onstage, in…