If you have ever listened to A Tribe Called Quest, Linden Boulevard in Queens is a prominent locale that showed the hip-hop legends always staying true to their roots. This past July, after the passing of Phife Dawg aka Malik Taylor in March, a mural was created on the corner of Linden and 192nd Street in St. Albans, dedicated to Phife, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammed and Jarobi White.
The significance of the mural, outside of being a beautiful tribute to Tribe and “hip-hop hieroglyphics” as mural co-organizer Theron Smith calls it, is that it is also where the group filmed the video for “Check The Rhime” in ’91, on top of the Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners laundromat roof.
The artist that created the mural, Vincent Ballantine, said, “Not only do I have to represent, I gotta represent, represent two times….it’s a dedication to a group that was pivotal when it comes to what hip-hop history is, and to what my history is….to stand on the boulevard of Linden is like ok, this is a beautiful thing.”
“Check The Rhime” – Back in the day on the boulevard of Linden….
[via NME]