A bitter sweet send off to his fallen partner in rhyme has presented itself to Queens, New York-based rapper Consequence dedicating his latest single “No Place Like Home” to the loving memory of the late A Tribe Called Quest member, Phife Dawg (born Malik Izazak Taylor). Consequence’s latest heavily influenced smooth R&B-throwback track “No Place Like Home” was produced by Consequence himself and Mike Cash. It was released last Wednesday, November 20 on what would have been Phife’s 49th birthday.
Taylor tragically passed away on March 22, 2016 at the age of 45 due to complications relating to diabetes. Always an integral unofficial member, in the same vein as hip hop artist Busta Rhymes, of the aforementioned iconic hip hop collective A Tribe Called Quest, Consequence (born Dexter Raymond Mills, Jr.) inherited the title being the cousin of founding Tribe member Q-Tip (born Jonathan William Davis). Consequence’s supporting role came heavily into play during the recording of A Tribe Called Quest’s fourth studio album 1996’s Beats, Rhymes and Life being heavily featured as a guest artist on the album. At that time, A Tribe Called Quest would record one more album as a group on their fifth studio album 1998’s The Love Theory before the abrupt disbandment of the group shortly thereafter.
Due to in-house tension amongst the members of the group, A Tribe Called Quest would explore this chronicling their journey in the 2011 documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. This would give way to fortunately having the group reunite and record one last album together before Phife Dawg’s passing on 2016’s We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. It was this posthumous release that would instill a sense of honor, integrity and respect in celebrating the legacy of Phife Dawg that made the album as momentous to ardent fans of A Tribe Called Quest deserving of the albums’ critical acclaim and commercial success. It was during the making of A Tribe Called Quest’s sixth and final studio album where Consequence was able to work with Phife Dawg and thusly having the fans of both artists embrace their latest collaborative musical offering.
Consequence may have received a taste of the limelight with his introduction to the latter discography of A Tribe Called Quest, yet he wouldn’t get his proper recognition as a solo artist until being signed to Kanye West’s imprint GOOD Music in 2005. After being featured on Kanye West’s 2005 sophomore album Late Registration on the track “Gone” and DJ Khaled’s debut album 2006’s Listennn… the Album on the track “Grammy Family” (a track later featured on Consequence’s major label debut), Consequence released his 2007 debut album Don’t Quit Your Day Job via Columbia Records/GOOD Music. Although no longer signed to the label and having a falling out with West, Consequence has since realigned himself and collaborated with West on West’s latest musical offering, 2019’s Jesus Is King. As previously reported on Complex, Consequence as of late has “…contributed to a number of records, including Danny Brown’s ‘Combat’ and ‘Selah’ from Kanye West’s newly released gospel album, Jesus Is King.”
According to a press release, Consequence had this to say about the making of “No Place Like Home”:
“Phife and I worked on ‘No Place Like Home’ in the same time frame as the beginning stages of the last Tribe LP. Even though he was living in The Bay during the last years of his life, we kept in touch frequently and I even brought my son, Caiden to meet him in person while he was in New York which lead to both of us making a cameo appearance in his last solo video. A couple months later unfortunately he passed away and Q Tip asked me to re-join Tribe to help make sure the last LP represented us and Phife’s legacy to the fullest. Once we released ‘We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service’ I always knew I wanted people to hear this record but it just felt like the timing had to be right. This year it feels right… The one thing I know about Phife is that he’s a rapper’s rapper. The best gift I could give him for his birthday this year is to let the world hear the “5 Foot Assassin” 1nce Again! Happy Birthday Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor. Love Cons, Deisha, Mom, Dad and all The Questers Worldwide #QueensAllDay”
To listen to “No Place Like Home” stream below, via YouTube.
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