Phife Dawg, A Tribe Called Quest Member, Dead At 45

Rapper Phife Dawg, a member of A Tribe Called Quest, has died at the age of 45 due to health problems.

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST’S PHIFE DAWG DEAD AT 45

News of the rapper’s death spread over Twitter after Rolling Stone confirmed the news Wednesday morning. An official statement has yet to be released. The late rapper had been suffering from health issues over the past years and underwent a kidney transplant in 2008 to deal with his longtime battle with Type 1 diabetes.

“It’s really a sickness,” Taylor said in the band’s 2011 documentary, Beats, Rhymes & Life. “Like straight-up drugs. I’m just addicted to sugar.”

The rapper founded his group A Tribe Called Quest with his Queens, N.Y., friends Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White. The rappers recorded five albums in their time together: 1990’s People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, 1991’s The Low End Theory, 1993’s Midnight Marauders, 1996’s Beats, Rhymes and Life and 1998’s The Love Movement. Taylor released his only solo album, Ventilation: Da LP, in 2000.

Fans and celebrities took to social media to convey their sympathy and to remember the rapper.

Questlove posted a photo of the rapper and thanking him for his additions to the music world.

Russell Simmons tweeted, “Damn. #RIPPhife one of the greatest to bless the mic”

DJ Kalkutta tweeted, “more than just a fly mc who’s 5 foot 3 and very brave, phife is a legend who helped father hip hop’s golden era. RIP”