Phife Dawg: Legacy Lives On In Music & Sports
On March 22, we lost one of the few prominent artists that embodied the worlds of transcendent music and sports fandom.
Malik Taylor, best known as part of the influential rap group A Tribe Called Quest, passed away from complications stemming from diabetes, at the all-too-young age of 45. Best known as Phife Dawg, Taylor was known for two things: being the beloved “straight-man” to fellow Tribe Called Quest rapper Q-Tip’s eclectic style; and being an avid sports fan — a public love affair he shared with many of his fans.
Born in the Jamaica area of Queens, New York on November 20, 1970, Taylor would meet best friend Jonathan Davis — the boy who would grow up to be Q-Tip — at the age of two. They shared an early love for sports, playing on the same Little League teams. Taylor also developed a love for music — an early education rife with sneaking in episodes of Soul Train to watch at his Seventh Day Adventist grandmother’s house helped him develop his skills in hip hop:
When it came to block parties and hip-hop, once I saw them grab the mics and getting busy, I risked my livelihood getting kicked out of the house and everything just to be a part of it.
He, along with Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White, would go on to found A Tribe Called Quest in 1985, and would cut their first studio album, “The Low End Theory”, in 1991. The album was critically acclaimed — ranked at No. 154 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time — thanks to the dynamic between emcees Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, and the unique sound they established in their music.
In an era where NWA and gangsta rap was gaining prominence in the hip hop scene, Tribe’s “Low End Theory” had a unique fusion of rap and jazz, and helped shape the alternative rap scene for decades to come. This was best illustrated in one of the album’s most well-known tracks, “Check The Rhime”. Sampling from artists ranging from Grover Washington, Jr. to Minnie Riperton to Average White Band, along with the dialogue-based wordplay between Phife and Q-Tip, made the track brilliantly unique:
His sports fandom also shown through his success as a rapper. Starting with his breakthrough success on “The Low End Theory,” Phife began leaving his mark as a sports fan in his music — constantly making sports references in his rhymes.
The Sporting News’ Sean Gentille and Nick Birdsong actually went back and counted the instances of major sports references, and ended up with 27 — from boxer Buster Douglas to Lakers legend Magic Johnson; from Jets QB Vinny Testaverde to NBA great Michael Jordan; from disgraced former Heisman winner O.J. Simpson to WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter, Phife shouted out a large variety of sports and athletes.
Furthermore, Phife always represented sports in his public image — whether it was public appearances, music videos or otherwise, Taylor would usually be seen in some form of sports gear — more specifically, New York sports gear, representing teams like the Knicks, Mets and Rangers. But, being a fan of a variety of sports teams and athletes, it was no wonder that he could easily be considered “a sports fan’s favorite rapper.”
Because of his passion for sports and music, he was a favorite guest of sports media personalities like ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, as illustrated in this interview with the hip hop legend in the months before his death. It was no wonder that, after news of his death was made official, it hit the sports world as hard as it did the music world:
I couldn’t have said it better, myself, SVP. Peace, Fam. Rest in Peace, Phife Dawg.
