This morning, it was reported that A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg died at the age of 45. Update (3/23 1:08 p.m.): Phife Dog died from "complications resulting from diabetes," according to his family and manager. Artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Questlove, Chuck D, Chris Rock, Chance the Rapper, and more have begun to pay tribute to the late rapper. Find some of their tributes below. Mac Miller also shared "5 Foot Assassin," a freestyle of Phife's set to a Miller-produced instrumental. Listen to that above.
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Update (3/23, 3:00 p.m.): Atlanta news station WSB-TV paid tribute to Phife Dawg this morning by inserting some of his most well-known lines into their traffic reports, Pigeons and Planes points out. While detailing a highway crash, for example, traffic anchor Mark Arum quoted a bit of “Check The Rhime,” instructing viewers to “tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram." Watch some highlights below.
Update (4:13 p.m.): Talib Kweli has penned an essay for Billboard paying tribute to Phife Dawg. In it, he details Phife's career highlights, as well as the artist's influence on both himself and hip-hop at large. Kweli also declares A Tribe Called Quest's 1993 LP Midnight Marauders "a flawless piece of work," arguing that it's " the album responsible for getting more people into hip-hop than any album before and after it." He concludes:
Update (3/25, 3:02 p.m.): On the newest episode of their Beats 1 show, Run the Jewels spoke about Phife's influence. "Everybody loves that dude," El-P said. "Everybody knows what he's gone for music; everybody grew up feeling like this guy was someone you wanted to know, and that he represented something for us that was sort of innocent, in a way." Meanwhile, Killer Mike said: "He is—not was—but is a constant inspiration to me, on just how to be a cool motherfucker and drop dope-ass rhymes." Listen to their discussion below.
Update (3/25, 10:27 p.m.): Busta Rhymes has written a tribute to Phife Dawg on his Instagram. In it, he recalls performing "Scenario" with Tribe last December. He writes that Phife has his hand on his back in the photo because he was "crying tears of joy because of how proud of a moment that was for [him] being able to end a 4 hour set with brothers who put [him] in a position where [he] was able to tell [his] mother she will not have to work for anyone over 20 [years] ago." Read the full thing below.
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