Michael Rapaport's filmmaking 'Quest'

Even with the best reviews of his career, actor-turned-director Michael Rapaport has found out you can't please everyone.

After making a career out of zany film and TV roles ("True Romance," "Prison Break"), Rapaport, 41, has dedicated the past two years of his life to finishing the hip-hop documentary "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest." The first-time filmmaker (himself a Tribe super-fan) was given complete access to one of hip-hop's most beloved acts.

Earlier this year, controversy engulfed the film after the New York group's frontman, Q-Tip, publicly criticized Rapaport over creative differences and producer credits.

The acclaimed documentary explores the crucial impact Tribe had on hip-hop in the early 1990s, when the group became one of the first acts to take fun, thoughtful rap music to the top of the charts. The film also covers the group's 2008 reunion tour, revealing a massive rift between Q-Tip and fellow member Phife Dawg. The two men can't be in the same room together. Rapaport has compared Tribe to the Rolling Stones -- with Q-Tip and Phife's relationship just as rocky as that of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Reached by phone in Los Angeles, Rapaport talked about the tumultuous filmmaking experience.

Q: In what way did Tribe's music speak to a white Jewish kid growing up in New York?

A: The fact that I was Jewish didn't affect the way it spoke to me at all. I just loved it. The musicality of it was familiar. There was humor. And what they were talking about was very adolescent. So it just felt like people who I knew.

A: It was hard. It made me uncomfortable. As a fan I wasn't aware that their relationship had gotten to that point. But as a filmmaker I knew I had to stay in it and keep shooting. I didn't think the movie was going to be that personal, but that's the way it turned out.

Q: How did Q-Tip's reaction to the film affect you?

A: It was upsetting, it was frustrating, it made me angry. Especially when I knew in the bottom of my heart that my intentions were always very good. I didn't make the movie for A Tribe Called Quest, I made a movie about A Tribe Called Quest. Obviously, I wanted them to feel comfortable with the movie. And since the movie has come out we've all agreed to disagree on certain things. They like the movie. Q-Tip is now in support of the movie. And I think we're over it.

Q: Has Q-Tip's previous displeasure colored the way you appreciate the group's music?

A: My stuff with Q-Tip, it's personal. It's my personal business relationship with him. But no, if anything it's made me a bigger fan of the music. I appreciate the music more because I understand it more. But I'm not going to lie and say I'm anxious to direct "A Tribe Called Quest Documentary, Part 2." But that doesn't mean that I would change anything about this experience. This experience happened exactly the way it was supposed to happen. Even with all the ups and downs. And I'm happy with it.