A Tribe Called Quest represents an important moment in almost every Hip Hop fan’s life.
More often than not, it’s the group that serves as gatekeeper for fans’ journey into alternative Hip Hop. The rhymes of Phife Dawg will forever shock many young heads, as they start to dig back into the golden era. The mixture of weirdness, funkiness, and rawness that Tribe delivered on their records, is a “b*tches brew” that will forever remain unique and unattainable.
Unfortunately, the legendary group has lost an integral member. Emcee Phife Dawg, the 5 foot Assassin, has passed away at the age of forty-five.
While this certainly means new rhymes won’t come pouring out of Phife’s notebook, those that’ve been etched into wax will never be erased. The contributions he has made to the benefit of Hip Hop are eternal. I guess that is the beauty of the culture and genre; lives end but legacies prosper. Groups like Tribe will stay timeless as the world ages. We’ll continue bumping Tribe, and Phife’s heartbeat will be found in every needle bumping across Midnight Marauders.
We at The Knockturnal, would like to send out our thoughts and prayers to The Tribe, Malik’s family and friends, and all his fans across the world.
Hip Hop won’t be the same without you.
Thank You, Phife
Once Again, Tip…
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Shout out to Mac Miller for putting together a short but touching tribute to late great Phife, you can check it out below, and after you’re done listening to that, go over to your record store and get yourself a Tribe record if you don’t have one, bring it home, and throw it on.
Statement from A Tribe Called Quest on the death of Malik I. Taylor p.k.a Phife Dawg The 5 ft. Assassin:
Our hearts are heavy. We are devastated. This is something we weren’t prepared for although we all know that life is fleeting. It was no secret about his health and his fight. But the fight for his joy and happiness gave him everything he needed. The fight to keep his family happy, his soul happy and those around him happy, gave him complete and unadulterated joy… until he heeded his fathers call.We love his family his mother, his father, his son, his wife, his nieces, his family here in New York, Atlanta, California and Trinidad.Thank you for the outpouring of prayers and support from the fans, fellow artists, music outlets, blogs, radio stations, DJ’s, social media and the music community at large. This too is part of his joy and means a lot to him. His family is overwhelmed by the support, well wishes and are thankful. His music and what he’s contributed is seismic and hard to measure. He’s affected us as much as he’s affected all of you. We’re inspired by his daily joy and courage. He wasn’t in pain. He was happy.We take comfort in knowing he will be beside his grandmother.
art by your homie, Arthur Banach
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