Phife Dawg
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist Malik Izaak Taylor<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (November 20, 1970Template:SndMarch 22, 2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg (or simply Phife), was a Trinidadian-American rapper and a member of the group A Tribe Called Quest with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (and for a short time Jarobi White). He was also known as the "Five-Foot Assassin" and the "Five-Footer," because he stood at Template:Convert.
Early lifeEdit
Phife Dawg was born Malik Izaak Taylor on November 20, 1970, in Queens, New York City, the son of Trinidadian immigrant parents Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, a poet, and Walt Taylor.<ref name=hiphopdx>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Coleman (2007), p. 435.</ref><ref name="ubuntu"/> His mother settled in the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens when she was 13 years old, and Phife Dawg was raised in the same neighborhood.<ref name="ubuntu">Template:Cite news</ref> Born prematurely, his twin brother Mikal died shortly after birth.<ref name="heavy"/> He was a cousin of writer Zinzi Clemmons.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
He first met his friend Q-Tip at the age of two. At nine years old, Phife Dawg suggested that they should rap, after hearing "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang for the first time.<ref name="beats">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He attended Pine Forge Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school near Philadelphia, for his freshman year of high school, later transferring to Springfield Gardens High School in Queens.<ref>Coleman (2007), p. 436.</ref>
CareerEdit
Phife Dawg formed A Tribe Called Quest, then simply named Quest, with Q-Tip and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad in 1985;<ref name="thesource">Template:Cite journal</ref> the group was later expanded with the addition of Jarobi White. A Tribe Called Quest were closely associated with fellow hip-hop acts De La Soul and Jungle Brothers, with the groups collectively known as the Native Tongues.<ref name="avc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A Tribe Called Quest was initially offered a demo deal by Geffen Records in 1989, but signed to Jive Records to release its 1990 début People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.<ref name=avc/>
Phife Dawg's contributions to the group increased on its second album, 1991's The Low End Theory, which saw Phife—often calling himself "the Five-Foot Assassin"—rapping about social and political issues; the record has since been acclaimed by critics and musicians.<ref name=avc/> The group released three more albums that decade—Midnight Marauders in 1993, Beats, Rhymes and Life in 1996, and The Love Movement in 1998—before disbanding as a result of conflict both with their record label and internally. The group's troubles, especially the sometimes tense relationship between Phife and Q-Tip, were featured in the 2011 documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport.<ref name=avc/>
Phife also performed with other artists. He was featured on the Fu-Schnickens song "La Schmoove", Diamond D's "Painz & Strife" with Pete Rock, and Chi-Ali's "Let the Horns Blow" with Dres, Al' Tariq and Trugoy. In 2000, he released his debut solo album, Ventilation: Da LP. In 2013, it was reported that Phife was working on another solo album, MUTTYmorPHosis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A single, "Sole Men," was released one day after Phife's death (March 23, 2016) along with a posthumously released video.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Another single, "Nutshell", was released online in April 2016 along with a posthumously released video.<ref name=avc/>
On November 13, 2015, A Tribe Called Quest reunited for a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.<ref name="toure">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That night, Phife and Q-Tip decided to put aside their differences and record a new group album, We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, in secrecy.<ref name="toure"/> Phife spent four months working on the album before his death; it was completed by the surviving members and released on November 11, 2016.<ref name="toure"/> In February 2017, it was announced that Phife's second studio album would be released later in the year. The single "Wanna Dance" was released that month and features Dwele and Mike City.<ref name="Hip-Hop DX">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Phife Dawg's second solo album, Forever, was released on March 22, 2022, the sixth anniversary of his death.<ref name="forever"/>
Personal lifeEdit
Taylor was married to Deisha Head-Taylor and had two children, a daughter and a son.<ref name="thefader"/><ref name="heavy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="vv">Template:Cite news</ref> He was a fan of the New York Knicks,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was a playable character in the video games NBA 2K7Template:Cn and NBA 2K9.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Illness and deathEdit
Taylor was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990. Conflicting reports indicated it as type 1,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while other sources reported it as type 2.<ref name="bbc"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He described himself as a "funky diabetic" in the single "Oh My God" from A Tribe Called Quest's 1993 album Midnight Marauders.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the group disbanded, he continued playing live shows to help cover medical costs, and revealed in the 2011 documentary film Beats, Rhymes & Life that he was "just addicted to sugar ... it's really a sickness."<ref name="bbc"/> In 2008, Taylor developed renal failure and received a kidney transplant from his wife, but it was unsuccessful, and by 2012 he again required a transplant.<ref name=bbc>Template:Cite news</ref>
On March 22, 2016, Taylor died at age 45 in his Oakley, California home due to complications of diabetes.<ref name=bbc/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LegacyEdit
Phife has been described as having had a "self-deprecating swagger," and his work with A Tribe Called Quest helped challenge the "macho posturing" of hip-hop music during the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref name=bbc/> Phife's work has been cited as an influence on Kanye West, Jill Scott, The Roots and Common,<ref name=avc/> while the 1991 album The Low End Theory is considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.<ref name="bbc"/>
On November 19, 2016, a portion of Linden Boulevard, at the intersection of 192nd Street in St. Albans, was honorarily renamed "Malik 'Phife Dawg' Taylor Way."<ref name="thefader">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The location is significant as the site of the video for A Tribe Called Quest's song "Check the Rhime."
In 2024, Phife Dawg was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of A Tribe Called Quest.<ref name="rrhof24">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DiscographyEdit
Studio albumsEdit
- Ventilation: Da LP (2000)
- Forever (2022)<ref name="forever">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Guest appearancesEdit
| Title | Year | Other performer(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "La Schmoove" | 1992 | Fu-Schnickens | F.U. Don't Take It Personal |
| "Let the Horns Blow" | Chi-Ali, Dres, Fashion, Trugoy the Dove | The Fabulous Chi-Ali | |
| "Styles Upon Styles" | 1993 | Ali Dee | Bring It On |
| "Where Ya At?" | Shaquille O'Neal | Shaq Diesel | |
| "Giggin' on 'Em" | |||
| "Intro-lude" | 1994 | TLC | CrazySexyCool |
| "Who Got the Funk" | 1995 | Science of Sound | Kaleidoscope Phonetics |
| "Artical" | Whitey Don, Chip Fu | Artical (VLS) | |
| "Game Day" | 1996 | Rodney Hampton | NFL Jams |
| "Painz & Strife" | 1997 | Diamond D, Pete Rock | Hatred, Passions and Infidelity |
| "Let Me Be the One (Ummah Remix) | Mint Condition | Let Me Be the One (VLS) | |
| "All I Do (Jay Dee's Shit! Mix)" | Somethin' for the People | All I Do (CDS) | |
| "Never Say Goodbye" | 1998 | Adriana Evans | Ride (soundtrack) |
| "Ghost Weed Skit 2" | 2000 | De La Soul | Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump |
| "Phife's Speech" | Ambivalence | Electric Treatment | |
| "Committed" | |||
| "What's da Deal" | |||
| "Hold Ya Karna" | Mastermind, Nefarius | Mastermind Presents Volume 50: Street Legal | |
| "In My Music (Dodge's Main Mix)" | 2001 | Al Jarreau | Tomorrow Today (Reissue) |
| "In My Music (Dodge's Melodic Mix)" | |||
| "Solo Movement" | K-Mel | Reflexions Vol. 1 | |
| "Take You There" | 2002 | AK1200 | Shoot to Kill |
| "It's Only Right"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Next Evidence | Thrills |
| "You Know You Want It" | 2003 | Slick & Rose | Objects in the Mirror |
| "Nah Mean" | will.i.am | Must B 21 | |
| "How It's Gonna Be" | 2004 | Truth Enola | 6 O'Clock Straight |
| "How It's Gonna Be (Remix)" | Ten Past 6 | ||
| "Scheming" | 2010 | Slum Village, Posdnuos | Villa Manifesto |
| "Tell the Whole City" | 2011 | Consequence | Movies on Demand 2 |
| "They Say (Legendary Remix)" | T3, Rapper Big Pooh | 3illa Madness | |
| "Dues n Donts" | 2012 | Oh No, José James | Ohnomite |
| "What Profit (Remix)" | Dwele | Template:N/a | |
| "Seek Well" | 2013 | CJ Fly, A La Sole | Thee Way Eye See It |
| "Push It Along" | 2015 | Slum Village | Yes! |
| "All Around the World" | 2018 | Black Eyed Peas, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Posdnuos | Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 |
| "No Place Like Home" | 2019 | Consequence | Template:N/a |
FilmographyEdit
- 1993: Who's the Man? – Gerald
- 1998: The Rugrats Movie – Newborn Baby
- 2007: NBA 2K8 – Himself
- 2011: Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest – Himself
- 2017: NBA 2K18 - Himself
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
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