In 2016, hip-hip legend Phife Dawg passed away at the age of 45. Phife (born Malik Izaak Taylor) died on March 22th due to complications resulting from diabetes, making him one of an unreasonably long list of incredible artists to leave the world during 2016.
Phife Dawg co-founded universally renowned hip-hop crew A Tribe Called Quest with MC/producer Q-Tip, DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White (who bowed out after their first album) in 1985 in Queens. Along with groups like De La Soul and Jungle Brothers (known collectively as Native Tongues), A Tribe Called Quest helped shift the hip-hop zeitgeist heading into the genre’s 90’s golden age. Known for their positive-minded, Afrocentric lyrics and pioneering use of eclectic sampling, Phife, ATCQ, and the rest of the Native Tongues flipped the script on rap’s then-inseparable tie to street cred and defiant, gangster bravado, making infectiously chilled-out, intelligent, feel-good hip-hop.
Phife was a creative force up until the very end: Along with contributing excellent work to A Tribe Called Quest’s newly released final album, We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service, it was Phife who came up with the album’s name. According to an article in the New York Times last year, the other members didn’t know what Phife’s title was supposed to mean but kept it in place as a tribute after his death. Whoever Phife had been trying to thank, Tribe co-opted the message of gratitude to apply to their fallen brother.
Phife, known as the “The Five Foot Assassin” and “The Funky Diabetic,” left an indelible mark on hip-hop and the lives of many fans during his time on this earth. You can feel his incredible presence and characteristic “self-deprecating swagger” on all of his recordings, and especially during Tribe’s legendary live performances. Celebrate the life of Phife Dawg today, on the anniversary of him leaving this world, by watching these classic live performances from A Tribe Called Quest’s heyday.
Phife rocks the Arsenio Hall Show stage with Tribe and Leaders of the New School in this performance from 1992, courtesy of YouTube user elkashel:
A Tribe Called Quest performs “Can I Kick It” on Showtime At The Apollo to an ecstatic audience, from ATribeCalledQuestVEVO:
And, finally, you can watch some prime vintage Phife in A Tribe Called Quest’s 1989 concert film The Art Of Moving Butts In Europe below (when Jarobi White was still part of the Tribe), courtesy of YouTube user StyleTrial.
Rest in peace, Phife. Thank you for your service.