Kendrick Lamar Paid Tribute To Phife Dawg in Sydney Last Night
"Today we lost one of the pioneers in hip hop."
On Kendrick Lamar’s Australian tour, in which he is blowing everyone away and making a pretty compelling argument that he’s the MVP in hip hop right now, the Compton MC has also taken time out to pay homage to the titans who have paved the way for him. Last night in Sydney, he paid tribute to the legendary founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor. Yesterday Phife Dawg passed away due to diabetes-related illness at 45 years old.
On stage in Sydney, Kendrick told the crowd:“Today we lost one of the pioneers in hip hop, by the name of Phife Dawg. Right now ain’t nobody cheering about me… We’re gonna give it up for him” before asking the crowd to chant Phife’s name.
.@kendricklamar pays tribute to #PhifeDawg from @ATCQ in Sydney last nighthttps://t.co/D8fHgWZVRX
— Matt and Alex (@mattandalex) March 23, 2016
It’s easy to see how A Tribe Called Quest could have inspired Kendrick’s socially conscious brand of rap. They pioneered an ‘alternative’ hip hop that included every issue from date rape, vegetarianism, Steve Biko and the plight of South African freedom fighters, to you know, butts that looked like apples.
All five of Tribe’s albums made ripples (although not everyone was a fan initially, Rolling Stone said of their first album: “it’s impossible to imagine how people will put this music to use”) and one of the most exciting aspects of their music was the interplay between two of the most talented MCs of all time, Phife Dawg and Q-Tip. Although the two childhood friends often clashed, as anyone who saw Michael Rapaport’s documentary on the band Beats, Rhymes & Life could attest to, they had a remarkable chemistry.
“A Tribe Called Quest mattered to everyone,” wrote New York Magazine‘s Rembert Browne. “And in that, Phife — the Di-Dawg, the five-foot assassin — mattered to everyone.”
RIP, Phife Dawg.
Photo by Katie Fairservice via Faster Louder.