RIP to Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest
Options
Comments
-
Back with Dilla making a heavenly solo album.
-
q tip wouldnt pay for his meds
-
RIP Him and Q-tip are the reason I love Hip Hop today. My GOAT rap duo.
-
R.I.P
-
Damn. RIP
-
This ? just ? me up got damn, rip
-
-
Mac Miller tribute song -
-
RIP Phife Dawg. We lost legend. Hiphop wouldnt be what it is today without ATCQ.
-
I just had to share this..Thinking about the influence ATCQ has had on my life, I realized that Phife and Tribe helped land the scholarship that pays my law school tuition.
At my school once you're accepted, the school will give an interview to help determine any additional scholarship money you may eligible for. The interview is done online in this weird format where the interview questions pop up on this site and you record your video answering the questions, very awkward.
Anyway, the first question I needed to answer was "Similar to the movie Groundhog Day, if you could relive any one day in your life, what would it be?" Instead of giving the usual "corporate" type answers, like the day I graduated from undgrad or got my license etc..I spoke about the first(and only) time I was able to see Tribe live in concert in Atlanta 2006. I spoke about the vibe that was in the air, the chemistry between Tip and Phife, how Phife wore a backpack for three hours during the show...everything. It probably was one of the greatest nights of my life, no joke.
Well a few weeks later, I found out I was awarded a pretty generous scholarship. When I came to Orientation Week in August before classes started, I had the opportunity to speak with someone in admissions. The person happened to be one of the officers who reviewed my interview and he commented that the joy and honesty displayed answering that question made an impression on him and everyone else who reviewed the recording and it definitely helped me receive additional scholarship money.
So thank you Phife, you will never be forgotten... -
That's dope as ? bruh. Big ups
-
? bless his soul....
-
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-tribe-called-quests-phife-dawg-dead-at-45-20160323
Malik Taylor, the rapper known as Phife Dawg whose nimble, clever rhymes helped launch A Tribe Called Quest to both commercial and critical success, died Tuesday at the age of 45 from complications resulting from diabetes. Rolling Stone has confirmed the rapper's death.
Sidebar
Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg: Read Our Final Interview »
Taylor had had health issues for years, undergoing a kidney transplant in 2008 to deal with a longtime battle with diabetes. "It's really a sickness," Taylor said in Beats, Rhymes & Life, Michael Rapaport's candid 2011 documentary on the group. "Like straight-up drugs. I'm just addicted to sugar."
"Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend," his family said in a statement. "We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of ? and family."
Taylor appeared on all five of the group's studio albums, most notably 1991's The Low End Theory and 1993's Midnight Marauders, acting as the high-pitched, gruff vocal counterpoint to Q-Tip's smooth, mellow flow. The group broke up and reunited multiple times since the release of their last album, 1998's the Love Movement. As documented in Beats, Rhymes & Life, the group would sporadically reunite for live shows, but stopped short at recording new material.
Health problems deterred Taylor from recording much solo material, though the rapper released his only solo album Ventilation: Da LP in 2000. Speaking to Rolling Stone last November, Taylor was tentatively optimistic about both his health and future recording plans.
"I am in a good spot, but I have my good days and I have my bad days," he said at the time. "But I'm more or less in a good spot, so I can't really complain." In the same interview, Taylor revealed plans to release the J Dilla-produced "Nutshell," the first single off a planned EP titled Give Thanks. The rapper released a video preview of the song, though a full version has yet to be released. Prior to his death, Taylor had also been at work on Muttymorphosis, his new LP that would have functioned as "basically my life story" that he hoped to have released later this year.
Taylor was born November 20th, 1970 in the Jamaica area of Queens, NY. Living in the same area as Q-Tip, he would meet his future groupmate at the age of 2, with the duo attending the same school and playing little league baseball together. "We were best friends," Q-Tip said in Beats, Rhymes & Life.
As recounted in the film, the rapper would visit his grandmother, a strict Seventh-day Adventist, on weekends and sneak in episodes of Soul Train for his early musical education. "When it came to block parties and hip-hop, once I saw them grab the mics and getting busy, I risked my livelihood getting kicked out of the house and everything just to be a part of it," Taylor said in the film.
At the age of 19, Taylor contributed verses to four songs on A Tribe Called Quest's 1990 debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, including an iconic verse on the group's third single, "Can I Kick It?" Despite the song's enduring appeal, Taylor himself was not happy with his contribution. "It's hard for me to get into 'Can I Kick It?' ... for the simple fact that I hated my voice back then," he told Rolling Stone. "It was high-pitched and [speaks in high-pitched voice] 'Mr. Dinkins' and I couldn't stand it. It's hard to listen to that album because of my voice. It's almost like, thank ? I was only on four records."
Taylor and fellow Tribe member Jarobi had planned to start their own group, but the two would join Q-Tip and producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad officially on 1991's Low End Theory. Buoyed by exuberant songs like "Buggin' Out," "Check the Rhime" and "Scenario," Low End Theory's landmark fusion of hip-hop and jazz remains a benchmark for the genre, influencing countless rappers and producers and providing the blueprint for a strain of rap as indebted to Grover Washington, Jr. and Ron Carter as James Brown. "He brought the street to A Tribe Called Quest," said the group's former manager Chris Lighty in Beats, Rhymes & Life. "If Q-Tip was esoteric and on Pluto, Phife would bring them back to the moon so that it was in the realm of human understanding."
The album would eventually earn a spot on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with hip-hop fans flocking to the vocal interplay between Tip and Phife. "I like the fact that we bounce off of each other like yin and yang, nice and smooth, you know?" Phife told Rolling Stone last year.
Midnight Marauders would appear two years later, equalling its predecessor in lyrical dexterity and organic, layered production. The album would spawn hits like "Award Tour" and "Electric Relaxation" and is often ranked as one of the best hip-hop albums of all-time.
Sidebar
Pharrell; A Tribe Called Quest
Hear Pharrell Remix Tribe Called Quest's 'Bonita Applebum' »
Taylor moved to Atlanta from New York following the release of Marauders, a shift he claimed exacerbated the infighting that had been increasing in the group. Two more albums would follow — 1996's Dilla-co-produced Beats, Rhymes & Life and 1998's The Love Movement — though neither achieved the same success as previous efforts.
Following the group's dissolution, Taylor continued to battle diabetes, reuniting with the group for live shows, in part, to help defray medical costs. "Even though I knew I had [diabetes], I was in denial," Taylor said in the documentary. "I had to have my sugar. You have to accept it. If you don't accept it, it's going to kick your ass."
Last November, the group reissued People's Instinctive as the first of a massive reissue campaign. A Tribe Called Quest's Tonight Show performance of "Can I Kick It?" — their first televised performance in 15 years — would end up being the group's last.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-tribe-called-quests-phife-dawg-dead-at-45-20160323#ixzz43kUxe5FE
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
-
Look up bruh, all the way at the top
-
MrCrookedLetter wrote: »Look up bruh, all the way at the top
My Bad Didn't See The Sticky...Tough Pill To Swallow Tho...I Just Found Out..He Was The Ying To TIPs Yang...Thats Why They Worked So Well...I Watched HIm On The Michael Rappaport Tribe Doc...He Looked Infirmed Like An Old Man..You Can Tell He Was Sick...Thats Too Bad...Rest In Power -
*~queenbee~* wrote: »? , my mother just text me this morning about the bad news. People as a whole need to be more conscious of their health and take more care of themselves, because Diabetes is no joke. May he forever rest in paradise.
This is not a case of someone who didn't take care of himself.....he's been fighting since the 90s when he got diagnosed
It was a general statement. -
-
-
He was literally living in the town right next to my home town. That ? is crazy.
-
Damn, I neverrr knew that fact at all. But im not shocked cuz NY rappers Love the bay, they be out her 2 months out of the year n ? .. word to Wu tang, Redman, Kweli and a lot of cats..
-
Damn, I neverrr knew that fact at all. But im not shocked cuz NY rappers Love the bay, they be out her 2 months out of the year n ? .. word to Wu tang, Redman, Kweli and a lot of cats..
I'm wondering what part of Antioch. Like the Hillcrest area in a nice ass house, where everybody from Oakland & Richmond moved to when they got their section 8, or like the slums of downtown Antioch. Lol. That's crazy how out of all places.
The Antioch High & Pittsburg High rivalry used to be lit lol -
-
Turfaholic wrote: »Damn, I neverrr knew that fact at all. But im not shocked cuz NY rappers Love the bay, they be out her 2 months out of the year n ? .. word to Wu tang, Redman, Kweli and a lot of cats..
I'm wondering what part of Antioch. Like the Hillcrest area in a nice ass house, where everybody from Oakland & Richmond moved to when they got their section 8, or like the slums of downtown Antioch. Lol. That's crazy how out of all places.
The Antioch High & Pittsburg High rivalry used to be lit lol
His wife is from the Bay so he split time between there Atlanta and Ny
Most NY rappers don't live in NYC btw -
Damn Yo Hip-Hop Just Lost One of The Beatles B...I'm Actually Choked-Up About This ? ...ATCQ Was Therapeutic AF When I Was Going Through Tough Times..They Were Just Regular Dudes Who Happened To Make Dope Ass Hip-Hop
This ? Right Here Gotta A Lot Of Play When It First Came Out...One Of My Favorite Records
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFbDG5645dI