Remembering Phife Dawg: What he did for hip-hop
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Phife Dawg, one of the founding members of the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, has died.
Dawg, who was born Malik Taylor, was a member of A Tribe Called Quest along with group members Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Q-Tip, and Jarobi White.
The group released their first album, 鈥淧eople鈥檚 Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,鈥� in 1990. Their second album, 1991鈥檚 鈥淭he Low End Theory,鈥� which included the songs 鈥淐heck the Rhime鈥� and 鈥淛azz (We鈥檝e Got),鈥� was particularly acclaimed.
called 鈥淭he Low End Theory鈥� a 鈥渃lassic,鈥� while Rolling Stone staff put the album on their list of ever released.聽
鈥淢any connected the dots between hip-hop and jazz, but this LP drew the whole picture,鈥� Rolling Stone critics wrote.
The hip-hop group would go on to release three more albums, with 1998鈥檚 鈥淭he Love Movement鈥� becoming their last.
Dawg was often credited as one of the factors in making the group a success. 鈥淗ip hop just lost one of its founding fathers,鈥� wrote of Dawg's death, while Chris Lighty, who was at one point the group鈥檚 manager, credited Dawg with keeping the group grounded, . 鈥淗e brought the street to A Tribe Called Quest," Mr. Lighty said. "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.鈥�
After the group鈥檚 final work, 鈥淭he Love Movement,鈥� Phife went on to release a solo work, the 2000 album 鈥淰entilation: Da LP.鈥� 聽聽
A Tribe Called Quest had come back together for some reunion performances within the past decades, with the group performing at, among other events, the Los Angeles H2O Music Festival in 2013. The ensemble also performed on NBC鈥檚 鈥淭he Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon鈥� late last year.
