The hip-hop world was rocked this week, by news of the tragic passing of legendary Phife Dawg, at just forty-five years old. Part of one of hip-hop’s most important groups, A Tribe Called Quest, tributes have been pouring in from every corner of the musical world – including a touching speech given by Kendrick Lamar at a concert here in Sydney last week.
Along with the tributes, statements, tweets and interviews, a slew of unreleased music, live performances and more has been getting released by friends and collaborators. Below, listen to a previously unreleased freestyle featuring Phife Dawg, Wildchild and Madlib, recorded back in 1999 on Tim Westwood’s radio show. Raw and uncut, it’s another memorable snippet of music from the talented, influential artist we’ve lost way too soon.
Q-Tip has also released a tonne of unheard material, on Abstract Radio, his Beats 1 radio show. Dedicating the entire episode to Phife, you can listen here to two hours of “funky, rare and live performances” from his own archives. As well as the recordings, you can listen to Outkast, Chuck D, Kendrick Lamar, El-P and many more call in to pay tribute and share their own memories.
Read our special edition Flashback Friday: A Tribe Called Quest’s “The Low End Theory”
Image: HipHopDX