Since his untimely passing last week, the tributes within the hip-hop community have flooded in for Malik “Phife Dawg” Isaac Taylor. Now, fans have started a petition to honour the rapper by naming a street in New York City after the legendary group he was a part of.
Linden Boulevard in Queens could soon become known as “A Tribe Called Quest Boulevard” after fans created a petition for the name change. The goal is to reach 5,000 signatures at Change.org before it will brought to Council member Daneek Miller and Speaker Melissa Mark- Viverito, who will ultimately decide whether or not the street will be renamed. At the time of writing it currently has over 4,000 signatures.
Phife Dawg died of complications from diabetes last week at the age of just 45-years old and since then tributes have continued to come in for him.
“It’s not just a Queens thing, because he was from Queens, it’s a world thing. The world is hurting because Phife and A Tribe Called Quest impacted the whole world,” DJ Enuff told PIX 11.
“Phife was the type of cat that articulated everything. He respected his craft,” Kool DJ Red Alert said.
While Chuck D labelled him a “hip-hop and rap word warrior”, and actor Elijah Wood called him a “pioneer.” Last week in Sydney, Kendrick Lamar delivered a rousing speech about Phife, starting a chant from his 18,000 crowd.
The influential A Tribe Called Quest were formed in 1986 in the local Queens area and went on to achieve huge success and popularity, and are often cited as one of the greatest hip hop groups ever.
The rest of the group, which includes Q-Tip, Jarobi White, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad posted a message about Phife’s passing shortly after the news last Tuesday.
“Our hearts are heavy. We are devastated. This is something we weren’t prepared for although we all know that life is fleeting. It was no secret about his health and his fight. But the fight for his joy and happiness gave him everything he needed. The fight to keep his family happy, his soul happy and those around him happy, gave him complete and unadulterated joy… until he heeded his father’s call,” the message said.
Image: HipHopDX