The pioneering hip hop artist succumbed to complications due to diabetes.
(Photo by Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)
Malik Taylor, better known as Phife Dawg, who as co-founder of A Tribe Called Quest helped shape the sound of 1990s hip-hop and brought socially conscious rap into the mainstream, died on Tuesday due to complications resulting from diabetes, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. He was 45.
"Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend," said the family in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of God and family."
Taylor's manager, Dion Liverpool, described him as his best friend and brother.
"I also will celebrate his incredible life and contribution to many people's ears across the world," he said in a statement. "Even with all his success, I have never met a person as humble as he. He taught me that maintaining a positive attitude and outlook can conquer anything."
(Photo by Brian Ach/Invision / AP)
Taylor, from the New York City borough of Queens, co-founded A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 along with Jonathan Davis (aka Q-Tip), Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and honorary member Jairobi White, according to the group's website.
Taylor and Davis met as small children in church and playing Little League Baseball together. They began their path into music through a rap collective called the Native Tongues Posse, which included groups such as De La Soul and the Jungle Brothers.
Originally called Quest, the group formed while attending Murray Bergtraum High School for Business Careers in Manhattan. They adopted "a tribe called" to their name after their high school friends The Jungle Brothers began using the prefix to refer to the young rappers.
"I never expected it to be this big," said Taylor in an interview with Rolling Stone about the group's eventual success. "I just thought we were going to be celebs in the hood."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1MCUv0m
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