Gina Madrid
Oakland Declares May 17 Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor Day
The late A Tribe Called Quest rapper spent the last 15 years of his life in Oakland, where his wife is originally from.
The late Phife Dawg has been honored with his very own day in Oakland, California.
Oakland has declared May 17 “Phife Dawg Day” following an event that honored A Tribe Called Quest in San Francisco, according to HipHopDX. Phife’s mother, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, his widow, Deisha Head Taylor, and producer Starita (who engineered Tribe’s last album We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service) were present at the event. The honoring was a part of a tribute event dubbed A Tribute To A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders.
“A Tribe Called Quest is being celebrated this week with Bay Area bands, producers and artists celebrating the group’s groundbreaking album Midnight Marauders,” Starita read. “Now, therefore be it, we proclaim Friday, May 17, 2019 is Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor Day.”
The tribute was a three-day event that took place at San Francisco’s YBCA. The lineup for the event included the Awesöme Orchestra, MJ’s Brass Boppers, Gift of Gab, La Gente, Royal Jelly Jive, Lagos Roots, and others.
Phife spent the last years of his life Oakland, where Deisha was originally from. Phife died at the age of 45 from complications relating to diabetes.
Now, aside from having his own day, the late rapper also has his own street sign at Linden Boulevard at 192nd Street in the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The site is where the music video for Tribe’s “Check The Rhyme” was filmed.
Source: HipHopDX
Ambrosia For Heads – Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor Day In Oaktown
Phife Dawg was a product of Queens, New York who represented for his borough and St. Albans section throughout his 25-plus-year music career. However, the co-founder of A Tribe Called Quest also lived other places during his 45 years of life.
One place Malik Taylor made his home was Oakland, California. That Bay Area city declared May 17 to be Phife Dawg Day entering this weekend. According to HipHopDX‘s Kyle Eustice, who was on hand for a ceremony including musical collaborator/Tribe album producer Starita, Phife’s mother Cheryl Boyce Taylor and the MC/producer’s widow Deisha Head Taylor.
A New Phife Dawg Album Is Coming & The 1st Song Shows Why He Is Forever (Video)
Per the report, The “5-Foot Assassin” made Oakland his home for more than 15 years. During that time, he was often an attendee at Golden State Warriors basketball games. That team is currently competing in the Western Conference Finals.
Reportedly local artists and musicians are honoring Phife this week in tribute. On March 22, 2016, Taylor died from kidney complications after a longtime and publicized diabetes diagnosis.
Phife Loved Hip-Hop, But Hip-Hop Needed Him (Video)
A posthumous Phife Dawg album is in the works, including a confirmed collaborative song with Redman and fellow Native Tongues alum Busta Rhymes. Late last year, Phife appeared alongside The Black Eyed Peas, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and De La Soul’s Posdnous on single “ALL AROUND THE WORLD.”
In 2016, the Queens, New York block of Linden Boulevard and 192th Street was re-named Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way.
HipHopDX Premiere: UnderCover Presents – A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders’
April 26, 2019 HipHopDX exclusively premiered the UnderCover Presents – Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders’ album. Check it out!
HipHopDX Premiere – A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders turned 25 last November, but the classic album is still celebrated no matter what day it is. Serving as ATCQ’s third studio album and follow-up to 1991’s The Low End Theory, the project bridged the gap between Hip Hop and jazz, much like Guru did with the Jazzmatazz series.
In honor of the Tribe masterpiece, the Bay Area UnderCover Presents collective has sewn together a tribute, the appropriately titled A Tribute To A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders.
Founder Lyz Luke explains to HipHopDX, “If there was ever a time to release a tribute album to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders,’ that time would be NOW,” says Lyz Luke. “In order to do this right and fully represent ATCQ, I knew we needed to bring in Starita as music producer, based upon his deep production experience across a multitude of genres in addition to his relationship and work with Phife Dawg and ATCQ.
“Apart from this album being released digitally, this is the first time in the history of UnderCover where we will be releasing a double vinyl to commemorate ATCQ and Phife Dawg.”
The 14-track effort boasts appearances from 13 local bands from a wide range of genres, seven MCs, over 100 artists, nine engineers, five music studios and a vinyl pressing plant. Blackalicious’ Gift Of Gab, Lateef The Truthspeaker and vocalist Gina Madrid are just three of the many whose fingerprints are on the project.
“When Lyz first approached me to work on this project, I instantly knew there were some critical pillars that we needed to uphold in order for this tribute album to resonate,” Starita adds. “Let’s be clear. This work is sacrilegious. This is a tribute album, not a cover album. This is already a perfect album. There’s nothing to re-make.
“To introduce this classic record to new audiences, our goal was to pay homage by pulling together the best of the best artists to make an album of re-interpreted songs representing the full breadth of the imagination that is ATCQ’s music.”
In conjunction with the album’s digital release, the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts in San Francisco will play host to three shows May 16-18 that will incorporate elements from all four pillars of hip-hop: DJing, MCing, graffiti and B-Boying (breakdancing), along with the minimalism and free-form nature of jazz instrumentation.
The city has proclaimed that week “A Tribe Called Quest Week” and will present Phife Dawg’s wife and other family members with “PhifeDay.”