On March 22^nd, 2016, Malik Izaak Taylor (Phife Dawg) died at the age of 45 in his home located in Contra Costa County, California. In the May of 1990, Phife Dawg was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Dissonant reports about his diagnostic said both type one and two diabetes—no report ever confirmed which of the two he actually suffered from. After being on the wait list for two years, he received a kidney transplant from his wife, which took place in 2008. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful and by 2012 he required yet another transplant. Proceeding to 2016, he passed away due to complications relating to diabetes.

Fortunately, his legacy continues to thrive. Phyfe’s musical work has been noted as an influence from Jill Scott, Common, Kanye West and The Roots. Not to mention, A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 album The Low End Theory has been referred to as one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever released.

A Tribe Called Quest was a hip-hop group from New York that was formed by a few high school classmates. Originally composed of MC, Producer Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, DJ Producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and MC Jacob White. Jacob White however left the group after the release of their debut album that occurred in 1991. The band had broken up in 1998 after the release of their fifth album The Love Movement. In 2006, the hip-hop group had reassembled and toured the United States. A Tribe Called Quest has been referred to as “The most intelligent artistic rap group during the 1990s.” More recently, in 2016 they released their sixth album We Get It From Here.. Thank You 4 Your Service.

Soon after the death of Phife, Q-tip posted on his Facebook that We Get It From Here.. Thank You 4 Your Service would be their ‘final’ album. Furthering this, he said that this was their last record and they will probably do one last world tour. Now, in an interview with Annie Mac on her BBC Radio 1 Show he stated, “Stay tuned for any after incarceration, ‘cause we don’t intend on stopping because that was Phife’s M.O. was, like, ‘This time we gotta do it and keep it gang,’ and now he is left us with the equation of how we do it but we are going to need it and we are going to continue,”