16 Bars is a new recurring column at MusiQology. When we want to get a sense of the discourse around a particular pop culture moment or event, we search the web, highlighting diverse voices across social media and aggregating them in a kind of thematic digital verse, with our own Genius-style annotations where necessary. A sign of a rapper’s ability is his or her ability to freestyle 16 bars—MusiQology’s piece is an improvisational sampling of speakers in concert.
Hip-hop fans were shocked this morning by the sudden death of Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor of A Tribe Called Quest. He was 45 years old.
ATCQ emerged as an intelligent counter to commercial hip-hop with their debut, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm in 1990 before gaining momentum with their subsequent releases, The Low End Theory (1991) and Midnight Marauders (1993). While Q-Tip literally towered over his collaborators and served as the group’s intellectual center, the 5’3″ Phife was its backbone and foundation, giving the group a grounding in the real while still maintaining his own careful introspection.
Though the group was defunct at the time of his passing, Phife’s words live on in the rich early history of hip-hop. “A rhythm recipe that you’ll savor/Doesn’t matter if you’re minor or major,” he rapped on “Can I Kick It,” perhaps the group’s greatest hit. “Yes the Tribe of the game we’re a player/As you inhale like a breath of fresh air.”
A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg has died at the age of 45 https://t.co/RhnRPQiPw2
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) March 23, 2016
Phife Dawg has died. Here's @frannie_kelley on the legendary @ATCQ in 2011. More to come. https://t.co/OeRpYcR4oS pic.twitter.com/D87yGSkUiy
— nprmusic (@nprmusic) March 23, 2016
Phife lives through an all inspiring body of work; Pure and smart, MUSICAL and fun!! Why I fell for Hip Hop. He is loved. Tribe is loved.
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) March 23, 2016
Phife was crucial to this. His persona was full of contradictions that were deeply personal yet inclusive and always authentic.
— Robert Greene (@prewarcinema) March 23, 2016
Can make case that Low End Theory is best hip hop album ever. Can make case. Phife makes that album. #RIPPhifeDawg https://t.co/dYUSPzUDLK
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) March 23, 2016
What I *want* to do is RT every single Phife remembrance. Instead, I just storified @notthefakeSVP's great anecdote. https://t.co/S3VOp4m3u1
— Matt Ufford (@mattufford) March 23, 2016
Phife was not only one of the most influential people in hip hop, but he was also one of the nicest & most kindest guys in hip hop. Man. RIP
— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) March 23, 2016
Phife was that rarest of things: an artist whose carefree technical mastery fools you into thinking virtuosity is effortless. What a loss.
— Saladin Ahmed (@saladinahmed) March 23, 2016
Thousands chant "Phife" down under…RIP https://t.co/6xPD2OtmOy
— Will Hermes (@WilliamHermes) March 23, 2016
Mac Miller drops “5 Foot Assassin (Phife Dawg Tribute)” https://t.co/3OPDSiJhLa pic.twitter.com/4Ss5Xv9WKA
— Global Grind (@GlobalGrind) March 23, 2016
Phife Dawg spoke to use three years ago about his 10 favorite A Tribe Called Quest songs: https://t.co/5Edr1h6U6V #RIPPhifeDawg
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) March 23, 2016
In our final interview with him, Phife Dawg looked back at a Tribe Called Quest’s joyous pasthttps://t.co/EPWIIm95Eq
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) March 23, 2016
Last night we lost a legend. #RIPPhifeDawg https://t.co/LHJAJo6X0A pic.twitter.com/BpKcp8ZDOA
— Rap Genius (@RapGenius) March 23, 2016
'his signature style was metadata referencing–#Phife was a data mixer, in era that predates Big Data' https://t.co/Qxw96feELI
— Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) March 23, 2016
One more time for Phife from #BabyNerd pic.twitter.com/q9rBrXMdmT
— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) March 23, 2016
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