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Phife of A Tribe Called Quest Sadly Passes Away

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The Hip-Hop community has suffered a great loss as A Tribe Called Quest co-founder Malik Taylor known to the world as Phife has sadly passed away at the age of 45. Complications of diabetes is the reported cause of his death.

For years Taylor battled type 1 diabetes. In 2008, the Queens, NY-bred rapper received a kidney transplant to help aid the sickness.

Born November 20th in New York City, Malik Taylor grew up in the St. Albans section of Queens. Along with childhood friends Q-Tip, Jarobi and later Ali Shaheed Muhammad, the four would go on to form one of the most important groups in Hip-Hop history, A Tribe Called Quest.

A Tribe Called Quest released their groundbreaking debut album People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm in 1990, spawning the hit singles ‘I Left My Wallet in El Segundo’, ‘Bonita Applebum’ and ‘Can I Kick It?’. It would be their second LP Low End Theory, released in 1991 that would help to mold the direction of 1990s Hip-Hop music. Sonically fusing jazz with lo-fi Hip-Hop, the album was listed in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Best 500 Albums of All Time and awarded five mics in The Source Magazine which deams it as a classic. Around this time period Phife was also diagnosed with diabetes. A Tribe Called Quest’s third LP Midnight Marauders was also critically acclaimed, with ‘Award Tour’, ‘Electric Relaxation’ and ‘Oh My God’ released as the album’s singles. Their fourth LP Beats, Rhymes and Life featured additional production contribution from J-Dilla as a member of The Ummah along with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad . The fifth release The Love Movement would be A Tribe Called Quest’s final album before the group’s split.

Phife released his solo album Ventilation: Da LP in 2000. Whilst the recording had production from the likes of Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, J-Dilla and more, there were still mixed criticisms from fans and music writers.

Between 2004 and 2015, A Tribe Called Quest reunited for various concerts including Rock the Bells in Anaheim, California and the Wireless Festival in London. However, the band would never go on to record another album.

Phife passed away on March 22nd. He will be sorely missed.

The Hip-Hop community has taken to social media to express their condolences for Phife, including Kendrick Lamar, Chuck D, Questlove and countless more.

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