At last summer's Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco, Ali-Shaheed Mohammed of A Tribe Called Quest brought the local significance of global activism into clear focus. "Remember, this country itself was taken over from Native Americans," he said to a tentful of reporters. "It's just oppression. It works the same way in this country too. Tribe is here because we're human beings, and we stand against the oppression of any human beings."

Later that day, after a park-rocking performance, Tribe's Q-Tip quieted the audience of 50,000 and brought the 65-year old Buddhist monk Palden Gyatso onstage. "I want y'all to meet someone I just met backstage," said Tip, obviously moved. "My man was imprisoned for 33 years. He was beaten, he had electric cattle prods stuck in his mouth. Simply for practicing his own religion in his own country. That's just crazy. It's gotta' stop."

Inspired by the experience, Q-Tip - a practicing Muslim - plans to stage a concert supporting the Islamic community of the embattled Indian/Pakistani state, Kashmir. Of course, Tribe's also playing this year's Tibetan Freedom Concert, so Milarepa got Q-Tip on the phone with Adam Yauch to discuss problems and solutions at home and abroad.

Dave Bry


Milarepa: The recent murders of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur point out how pervasive violence has become in our country. What can be done to help the situation?

Tip: It's the same ol' xxxx. Education. More money has to be diverted towards education. Proper education for those kids who may not be fortunate enough to afford paid education. That's just what it is. Because if you're in Brooklyn, and you're selling crack, and that's all you know, your teachers aren't coming to teach you with any type of zeal based on the fact that they're only getting paid x-amount of dollars to teach. We have to give teachers more money. We have to give people more incentives to become teachers. And we have to give people incentives to be good parents. Make people feel good about the careers they've chosen. Pay them justly. Set up a good health-care system. Make them feel secure in that. So that they'll bring good attitudes into the home, so that they'll be bale raise their children correctly.

Adam: One problem with the education system is that when they tax in a certain neighborhood, they keep the money from those local taxes in that neighborhood. They put it into the public schools in that neighborhood only. So you got Beverly Hills High with, like, swimming pools. And in Compton there's a very poor schooling system. I mean, at the very least you have to pool that money and deal with the schooling more evenly. That's another insane thing I found out about a few years ago.

Tip: It's like that, man. It's sad, but it's like that in a lot of places. But it's just about bringing balance. There's a thing called excess. If you got a fat house, if you're living fat. Fat crib. Fat car. You just got extra cars that you don't even need. Extra cars. Extra houses. You've worked hard. It's your right to have those things. But at the same time, you gotta' look at it like this: you co-exist with people as well. So if you're gonna truly enjoy your wealth, you should be bale to reach back and try to change some of those other situations. Even if it's a little bit. Just do something.

Adam: I also think that it's important to break down the whole 'gangster fantasy' a bit. I know that people might read this and think that I'm not really a person to be commenting on that because I'm a white kid from a middle-class neighborhood, but in a way, I feel like I was part of helping to contribute to creating the fantasy with a lot of the lyrics on License to Ill. It's easy to create fantasies in your music. Writing rhymes about how cool it is to have guns, or smoke dust, or whatever it is. It's like making a movie. But it creates a fantasy that a person can find happiness in life following that path. And I really don't think that's possible. I think that fantasy needs to get broken down. Everyone needs to stop pretending that there is any solution to be found there, as far as personal happiness goes.

Milarepa: People need to separate the art, the fantasy, from reality. Like Martin Scorsese can make these terribly violent movies, but he doesn't live that lifestyle.

Adam: I think another thing is that the Martin Scorsese stuff does contribute to the violence.

Tip: No doubt.

Adam: And I think that movies can't be written off, like 'Well, everyone knows that it's fantasy.' 'Cause for a young kid...

Tip: They know it, too, in Hollywood!

Adam: I mean, maybe for someone who spends a lot of time meditating, or has some spiritual perspective. Maybe they'd see a Martin Scorsese movie and be like, 'That's just a fantasy.' But to a young kid, you see that movie and just wanna' go bust somebody's ass.

Milarepa: Spirituality then. Is that an answer ?

Tip: I think so. I think that spirituality is lacking in our country. We live in an a-spiritual society. You're looked at as weird right now if you're a Buddhist...

Adam: Yup [laughs]

Tip: Or a Muslim, or a practicing Christian or a practicing Jew. You're looked at like, 'strange.' Religion has become very ceremonial. You know, on Easter everybody'll go to church. On Rosh-Hashanah everybody'll go to synagogue, or whatever. But 360 days of the year, they ain't there. Religion's been reduced to ceremony. It's been reduced to something you partake in for the moment, but not something you invest your whole time into. And that's what I think we really need to do.

Adam: It's almost as if a lot of religions have lost their meaning over time. Or they've lost some of what they were originally based on. Like, when a lot of religions were created, they were simply methods of making yourself a better person. Or making your own life happier. Or creating happiness for other people. But over the centuries they've become dogmatic and oppressive vehicles for people trying to control each other. So that's why I think a lot of people scared of religion now. A lot of religion, though, if you look into them, are based on really intelligent principles that actually do lead a person to happiness. You just gotta' weed through 'em, and figure out what makes sense, and what's been twisted around over the centuries.

Tip: You gotta' understand that human beings are gonna' be human beings, no matter if they're Muslim, Jew, Christian, or whatever. A human being will always have the capability of making a mistake. But what we should try to do is understand that if a certain thing is going on, we should try to get to the root of it. And understand why people are acting like this, or doing things like this. Just try to understand and open your mind to it. That's all. If somebody wants to be a certain way, y'know, you respect it, even if you don't agree. You know, I may not agree with a homosexual lifestyle, but I'll never walk around and call nobody a faggot or try to beat somebody up because that's what they choose to be. Or not eat with them at a table, I mean, that's ludicrous.

Milarepa: In trying to solve problems that are going on in this country, what can people learn from the struggles going on halfway around the world?

Adam: Well, with Tibet, the fact that it's a nonviolent struggle. Just studying that, there's a lot to learn. Nonviolence is often looked at as being weak, but actually, it takes more strength to solve problems nonviolently. It's standing for the truth in a real deep way. It's dealing with reality on a real deep level. Because violence only lead to more violence. Even if someone has good goals, if they approach achieving those goals through violent means, it winds up destroying their own goals. A lot of time those people who've been oppressed have gained their freedom through violence, but then they end up being the oppressors.

Milarepa: Q-Tip, what was it like for you at last year's Tibetan Freedom Concert? How'd that affect you?

Tip: It was interesting and enlightening for me. If I wasn't able to take that step, I wouldn't have been able to understand this situation in Kashmir. I wouldn't have been able to recognize the gravity of that situation if I hadn't looked at Tibet. 'Cause it really hit home when I met some of the people from there. It's just sad. You don't want to see that. It's just really bad, y'know?

Adam: Yeah, but I think a change really can come about. Just by more people becoming aware. And demonstrating and people doing things together. A concert is a really powerful way to do this stuff, and demonstrations. The more that people come together and publicly show what they think about these situations. I think it can have a domino effect and really shift consciousness on a mass level. And I think it will filter into those other countries, too. I look at like a bunch of people on a block. If you think of each of those countries like a person on a block. If you have one person that's acting like a bully, and then the other people on the block recognize it, and let that person know that they recognize it. You know, that person still wants to be part of the community, so they're gonna' have to kinda' shift what they're doing, and they're gonna become more aware of what they're doing. And know that everyone else is aware of it.

Milarepa: A lot of kids go to big concerts like the ones you guys are planning. What can the kids learn at a concert?

Tip: I hope they understand the message we put out. Y'know, really use the government. Writing to you congressman about these things would be instrumental in helping people across the world. You can really make a difference, wherever you're at in this country and worldwide.

Adam: So, Tip, you're doing a concert for Kashmir in the autumn, right?

Tip: Definitely.

Adam: That's really cool.

Tip: We're at the fetal stages, just tryin' to get into contact with groups right now, so if any act out there - no matter what spectrum of music you're from - would like to get involved, they should contact Mona Scott at Violater Records. I hope you print it, 'cause we really need a lot of help and support. Kashmir is much like the Tibetan situation. In Kashmir, the population is like 85% Muslim. But the government, and the militia there are not Muslim at all. The people of Kashmir are helpless.

Milarepa: With recent news in mind, it's hard not to get depressed. It seems like we're headed into dark times.

Adam: We could be headed into resolutions, too. I mean, if enough people start wanting to bring things around into a positive way, it could shift in that direction. I think it could really go either way. It seems like we're coming into a crossroads right now, the way technology is advancing so quickly. Sort of a crossroads to see whether our spirituality will catch up to where our technology is at. It's like our own consciousness needs to advance to where the machines we're makin' - these toys we're makin' - are at.