[MP3] R.I.P. Malik Isaac “Phife Dawg” Taylor, 1970-2016

Rumors of the passing of Phife Dawg, from the legendary hip-hop group, A Tribe Called Quest, which started to surface just as I was going to bed last night, were like a baseball bat to the head. Even though it was well known that he was a long time sufferer of type II diabetes and his health was, sadly, up and down at the best of times, 45 is way too young an age to pass.

Phife was the backbone of Tribe, the dude who added the grit to their left-field, black boho sound. When they reinvented the notion of so-called ‘jazz rap’ with the deep grooves on The Low End Theory earning widespread acclaim, including from many who even at that time still didn’t consider hip-hop ‘real’ music, it was actually Phife who got many of the lyrical plaudits for stepping his game up on the album from their debut and making it what it was, a genre and era defining masterpiece.

It’s been a weird past few weeks for me. So many people who have an impact on my life, both directly an indirectly, have passed away as of late and some of them I only learned about in passing or purely by accident.

It’s sobering seeing so many of my peers, in their forties, the supposed prime of life, pass away. What is going wrong with this world that so many in our generation are not getting to live out full, accomplished lives like Bowie, Glenn Frey, Keith Emerson, Natalie Cole, Maurice White, George Martin and other older legends who have also passed away recently? Not sure I’ll ever have an answer to that question.

Ironically, a couple days ago I saw in my Facebook ‘memories’ I had posted an article a couple years back about Q-tip reassembling the group to go back in the studio to work on new music. My comment accompanying it was something to the effect of: “Ian falls to his knees and cries…” I thought about re-sharing it but didn’t since nothing ever seemed to come of those sessions in the end (although apparently I am wrong on that: I am happy to report a new ATCQ album may be released in 2016!).

Now, even though I wish I didn’t, I would have presciently had all the reason in the world to have had that reaction given yesterday’s terrible news. But, as the homie, Wes says in this Brooklyn Bodega post, let’s not be sad, let’s celebrate Beats, Rhymes & Phife! The mini-mix by the UK’s DJ Yoda above does just that in the best way possible: by whipping together some of the 5 ft Assassin‘s best verses into one glorious hip-hop eulogy cum tribute. RIP Phife… #‎RIPPhifeDawg‬

[mix via The Rub, other great mixes there too! Image via Geology]

Update bonus mix: Listen to an amazing, almost 2 hour long, Phife Dawg tribute mix by the T.dot’s own super DJ, Starting From Scratch HERE.

[MP3] Tuelv – One For P (Praverb The Wyse Tribute)

This is way, way late but still worth posting anyway especially now that we are coming up on the anniversary plus it’s got a Sunday kind of feel to it, no? From producer, Tuelv:

I’m writing to present to you my tribute song to MC/journalist/blogger, Praverb The Wyse, who passed away unexpectedly on September 17th last year. On January 7 this year, he would’ve celebrated his 33rd birthday. I made the beat a few days after he passed, but just finally completed it now by adding parts of his vocals to the instrumental.

Today (January 7th 2015) Earl Patrick McNease, also known as Praverb The Wyse, or just Praverb, would have been celebrating his 33rd Birthday. Unfortunately, the MC/journalist/blogger, well known for his selflessness and sincere will to help others become better, passed away on September 17th 2014, leaving behind his wife Vanessa and son Matthew. I personally have never met P, but we’ve been in touch for a few years prior to his untimely passing, and we both supported each other as artists and tried to motivate each other. His sudden death, which was a complete shock to everybody who knew Praverb, deeply saddened me and inspired me to create a tribute beat for him just a few days after this tragic event… However, for a long time I felt it was incomplete and didn’t release it for a few months. It finally seemed like a complete tribute when I added fragments of his vocals from his song Blessed With The Gift.” We never got to collab on a song but I hope you like it, P. Rest In Heaven. Great dude, amazing lyricist and one of a kind person. You won’t be forgotten. One that will always be missed…

[News] R.I.P. Robert Diaz (aka Pumpkinhead / PH): 1975 – 2015

Pumpkinhead feat. Supastition & Wordsworth – Trifactor

PumpkinHead AKA PH and Poops on WKCR FM Stretch Armstrong Show, Hosted by Bobbito (1996)

Won’t lie: knew his name but never really followed Pumpkinhead aka PH‘s career too tough but I knew he was respected by cats whose taste in hip-hop I really respected plus he was a Brooklyn-representer like I was for a good 17 years so I have to show nuff respect here. R.I.P. Pumpkinhead….

R.I.P. Big Bank Hank of Sugarhill Gang: August 5, 1957 – November 11, 2014

Controversy aside, it’s hard to argue that Big Bank Hank is not a key part of the development of hip-hop music as a commercial proposition. For you youngun’s who’ve grown up in a time where there’s always been hip-hop, “Rapper’s Delight” by Hank’s seminal hip-hop group, the Sugarhill Gang is a major reason why that is a reality today. “Rapper’s Delight” was beyond big. Think of the biggest, hottest record out now and multiply it by at least 10, that’s how massive “Rapper’s Delight” was in its time. Hank’s passing today on Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day in the US) prematurely from cancer at 57 is sad, sad news indeed. R.I.P.

[News] Twenty Years Ago Today Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ready To Die’ Was Released…

And inspired this flyer for a Different Kitchen party I was throwing in DUMBO, Brooklyn 10 years ago back when I lived in NYC. Still miss Brooklyn….

Haven’t listened to Ready To Die in a while? Listen to what the album could have sounded like if Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs hadn’t put his golden touch on it first: Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die (The O.G. Edition)

More from Biggie on The Kitchen by clicking right HERE.