Fans may still be mourning the passing of A Tribe Called Quest‘s founding MC Phife Dawg in March last year, but providing some consolation overnight, Chairman and CEO of Epic Records L.A. Reid has dropped an unexpected reveal. While the group has not released work for 18 years, the iconic alt hip-hop outfit reunited to cut a new album prior to Phife’s death.
Dropping the news via the Rap Radar Podcast, Reid shared some details on the forthcoming project. “…It’s really something special. It’s one of the things I’m most excited about over everything we’re working on,” he revealed. “Phife is there, the whole group: Jarobi, the entire group, everybody.” This said, the CEO remained vague on when exactly fans could be expecting the album, stating only that it would be seeing a release “very soon.”
The comments suggest that the entire line-up (Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and sporadic contributor Jarobi White) will all be featuring on the new LP. Despite Reid’s enthusiasm, the group themselves have yet to comment on the existence of the project.
While the group has reunited for various live appearances throughout the years, it was unlikely that there would ever be another studio outing. Following their dissolution, the group’s members have long since maintained that 1998’s The Love Movement would remain their final album.
Image Souce: RollingStone.com