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RIP Phife (Original Post) Recursion Mar 2016 OP
Damn. Digital Puppy Mar 2016 #1
WHAT THE FUCK???!!!! Number23 Mar 2016 #16
Low End Theory is very nearly perfect Recursion Mar 2016 #24
"Microphone check, 1, 2, What is this?" Digital Puppy Mar 2016 #2
I never half step cause I'm not a half stepper Recursion Mar 2016 #3
Thank you, DP! Kind of Blue Mar 2016 #15
That sucks. wildeyed Mar 2016 #4
Aww - sad news JustAnotherGen Mar 2016 #5
"The shorty, Phife Dog, is your favorite MC".... Liberal_Stalwart71 Mar 2016 #6
Condolence to Phife's family and friends everywhere. Kind of Blue Mar 2016 #7
RIP Bra serbbral Mar 2016 #8
R,I,P. Phife 1StrongBlackMan Mar 2016 #9
Well... Shit, this is a bad year The Polack MSgt Mar 2016 #10
Dang. cwydro Mar 2016 #11
Oh MAN ismnotwasm Mar 2016 #12
... lovemydog Mar 2016 #13
Just heard this on a tribute to Phife Kind of Blue Mar 2016 #14
That's the one that got me into ATCQ lovemydog Mar 2016 #17
Good stuff, right here! Digital Puppy Mar 2016 #18
Definitely! lovemydog Mar 2016 #19
Oh yeah, old enough to remember Kind of Blue Mar 2016 #20
Ironically I was already a ATCQ fan and that's what got me into Lou Reed Recursion Mar 2016 #25
Love it. lovemydog Mar 2016 #26
Found it. 22 Twos Recursion Mar 2016 #27
Thanks a million. lovemydog Mar 2016 #28
I just mixed this together in tribute. MrScorpio Mar 2016 #21
Thank you so much! lovemydog Mar 2016 #22
Thank you, Mr. S! Recursion Mar 2016 #23
Big ups, Scorpio...haven't heard some of those tracks in a while... Digital Puppy Mar 2016 #30
Not sure if you guys saw this, but this was one of the best tributes I saw: Digital Puppy Mar 2016 #29
Accident on I-74: tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegraph Recursion Mar 2016 #31

Digital Puppy

(496 posts)
1. Damn.
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:35 AM
Mar 2016
Phife Dawg, Founding Member of A Tribe Called Quest, Reportedly Dies at 45



Phife Dawg, principal member of pioneering hip-hop outfit A Tribe Called Quest, died Tuesday (March 22) at the age of 45, according to various reports.

Though an official statement had yet to be issued at press-time, Phife began trending on Twitter as leaders from the hip-hop community paid tribute to the late MC.

Questlove Reflects on A Tribe Called Quest's Iconic 'People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,' 25 Years Later

On hearing the news, Chuck D tweeted, “Phife -- Hip Hop & Rap word Warrior, simple as that. Breathed it & lined rhyme into Sport. A true fire Social Narrator my bro."


Phife (born Malik Taylor) had battled with ill health in recent years and underwent a kidney transplant in 2008, following renal failure due to diabetes complications. He went on to become a diabetes advocate and shared his story in the 2012 documentary Beats, Rhymes and Life.

A Tribe Called Quest was formed in the late 1980s by Phife, Q-Tip (born Jonathan Davis), DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White (who would leave the group at the height of its success). The act signed to Jive Records and released the first album of five studio albums, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, in 1990.

J. Cole Remixes A Tribe Called Quest's 'Can I Kick It?' for 25th Anniversary Reissue

The group would go on to make its mark as one of the most progressive hip-hop acts of its time. And commercial success didn't elude them. ATCQ's 1996 album Beats, Rhymes and Life reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and its followup, The Love Movement from 1998, peaked at No .3 on the chart (another, earlier set, Midnight Marauders, reached No. 8 on the U.S. chart in 1993). They were rewarded in 2005 with a Special Achievement Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta.

Phife, who had the nicknames "Five Foot Assassin" and "The Five Footer" because of his diminutive height (he stood at 5 ft 3 in), released a solo album, Ventilation: Da LP, in 2000.

His group sporadically reunited over the past decade, including a performance for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last November. The late-night appearance coincided with the 25th anniversary release of the group’s iconic debut album featuring remixes helmed by Pharrell, CeeLo Green and J. Cole.

Taken from: Billboard

Number23

(24,544 posts)
16. WHAT THE FUCK???!!!!
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 04:58 PM
Mar 2016

Dying at 45???!! What in the hell??! Good God, I can barely type right now. What in the STRAIGHT hell??!

I have Low End Theory in my house RIGHT NOW. When one CD dies I get another one. I cannot believe this.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
24. Low End Theory is very nearly perfect
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 07:48 AM
Mar 2016

I would have ended on "What" rather than "Scenario", but I also get how studios have rules and you want to end on your radio song (but "What" is, and I mean this, the best track of the 20th century, IMO). Seriously that album changed so much about how I looked at hip hop in particular and music in general.

A friend of mine who wasn't into hip hop once asked me what hip hop actually is and I lent him Low End Theory, saying that's a longform and excellent answer to that question.

Digital Puppy

(496 posts)
2. "Microphone check, 1, 2, What is this?"
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:44 AM
Mar 2016

Didn't know what the hell was going on when Phife came in at 3:35. Going to miss that 5-foot assassin.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
3. I never half step cause I'm not a half stepper
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 05:47 AM
Mar 2016

Drink a lot of sodas so they call me Dr. Pepper

I never walk the street thinking it's all about me
Even though deep in my heart, it really could be

That's Phife in a verse.

 

Liberal_Stalwart71

(20,450 posts)
6. "The shorty, Phife Dog, is your favorite MC"....
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 10:28 AM
Mar 2016

...and indeed he was!

I had to come out of hiding because I cannot believe this news.

I'm a major ATCQ fan. In fact, the group is my favorite Hip Hop group of all time, with Public Enemy coming in a close second.

2016 has been horrible!!!

I knew Phife had been very sick for years. He leaves a gorgeous wife and kids here on this godforsaken earth.

The world has lost one of the greatest lyricists ever!

Rest In Power!

Kind of Blue

(8,709 posts)
7. Condolence to Phife's family and friends everywhere.
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 10:39 AM
Mar 2016

I always remember what he said a while ago about denial, "If you don't accept it, it's going to kick your ass."

Rest In Peace.

The Polack MSgt

(13,186 posts)
10. Well... Shit, this is a bad year
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 11:25 AM
Mar 2016

RIP Phife.

My best wishes to your family and all those suffering your loss in the 1st person.

Kind of Blue

(8,709 posts)
14. Just heard this on a tribute to Phife
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 02:07 PM
Mar 2016

on the radio on my way back from the store.

The reporter waiting to start his news report totally forgot and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm still grooving to the song." It was touching.

Thanks.

Digital Puppy

(496 posts)
18. Good stuff, right here!
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 06:38 PM
Mar 2016

Lots of great music that came out of this camp. I appreciate ATCQ greatly as I had never heard this track before. I discovered 'Walk on the Wild Side' very shortly after ATCQ's 'Can I kick it?'.

lovemydog

(11,833 posts)
19. Definitely!
Wed Mar 23, 2016, 08:32 PM
Mar 2016

I'm just like you in that great music leads me to other great music. For me it was the other way around, I loved Lou and when I heard that ATCK song I couldn't stop listening to it (had the album on cassette tape) and remixes of it. That album led me to the whole trip hop stuff like De La Soul & later Massive Attack.

Kind of Blue

(8,709 posts)
20. Oh yeah, old enough to remember
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 02:29 AM
Mar 2016

the original, a haunting song from childhood, and always always always a pleasure to hear.

Cool to know Lou Reed thought it was "gorgeous." It simply is.

Cracked me, Reed "said it actually suited what the song was about, which was luck, 'cause I had no idea what this song was about" to cute!

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
25. Ironically I was already a ATCQ fan and that's what got me into Lou Reed
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 07:54 AM
Mar 2016

Yet another musical gift they gave me, exposure to that amazing artist (demographically I "should" have been a Lou Reed fan who later found Tribe). My little sister is the same way with M.I.A. and the Clash; she's now a crazy Clash fan after "Paper Planes".

Didn't JayZ sample Can I Kick It? Like 22 Twos or something?

lovemydog

(11,833 posts)
26. Love it.
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 08:00 AM
Mar 2016

I love the Clash and absolutely love Paper Planes and all the remixes of it. Not sure about Jay Z sampling Can I Kick It. I'd bet someone here will know. I'd love to hear it, if anyone can post the video. Like you, I love finding musical connections. As my mom always said, music is the universal language.

Digital Puppy

(496 posts)
29. Not sure if you guys saw this, but this was one of the best tributes I saw:
Thu Mar 24, 2016, 12:19 PM
Mar 2016
Mic drop! WSB-TVs Mark Arum and Fred Blankenship paid tribute to the late A Tribe Called Quest rapper Phife Dawg by brilliantly inserting lyrics into the traffic report.


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