Fans of the hip-hop collective, A Tribe Called Quest found themselves disappointed when the group did not show up to their scheduled show in San Francisco, California during the 10th annual Outside Lands Festival.
The hip-hop group which features, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Jarobi and Consequence was scheduled to perform at Outside Lands Festival but wound up cancelling the performance that they were co-headlining. The festival also included acts such as Lorde, Gorillaz, The Who and Metallica.
Before they were expected to perform at Outside Lands in San Francisco, a place Phife called home for several years, the hip-hop group performed outside of Denver at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. According to the band, they wanted to honor their fallen brother. Though the house was filled with fans who shared their love to the group, the loss was still heavily felt.
On Monday, a sympathetic letter was published by the group in The Los Angeles Times with a long explanation behind the cancellation. The reason that was given by the group was grief was still hanging in the air relating to the death of longtime member Phife Dawg who died last year at age 45.
The letter expressed;”You would think that with every performance we heal a little more and the sadness is easier to handle.” The group continued by saying, “Sometimes…when you have lost someone close, you are riddled with the notion that there is no going on. That Friday morning upon traveling to San Francisco, a wave of grief was still on us.”
A Tribe Called Quest rescheduled for the following night but cancelled Saturday night’s set. They assured their fans, expressing how much they mean to them by saying,
“We are fully aware that without you (the fans), we would not be where we are today. We appreciate you having our back during this challenging period. We are not making excuses for our absence. We just wanted you to know that we are still grieving and yet we want to honor each and every one of you for 28 years of music love. Thank you for the support.”
Formed in 1985, the group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip-hop music. During their career, they have released 6 albums between 1990-2016. They broke up before releasing their fifth album in 1998 though they reunited in 2006 touring the States.
Eight months after they lost Dawg, A Tribe Called Quest released We Got It From Here….Thank You 4 Your Service. When it was released, it debuted at number one on the Billboard Albums chart. The album was incomplete when the death of Phife Dawg in March of 2016 and was completed by the other members of the group.
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