Despite being struck by tragedy with the untimely passing of Phife Dawg, the newly recharged A Tribe Called Quest has been having quite the fruitful year.
In September, the group celebrated the 25th anniversary of their sophomore album, The Low End Theory with an official mural being erected on the corner of Linden Blvd. and 192nd Street in Queens.
Earlier this month, ATCQ had more reason to celebrate after releasing their sixth and final album, We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service — marking the first time Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi and Ali Shaheed Muhammad hunkered down in a studio together to create new music since 1998’s The Love Movement. The album was chock full of surprise appearances from Elton John, Jack White, André 3000, Anderson .Paak, Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes, Marsha Ambrosius, Consequence, Talib Kweli and Kanye West.
Following the album’s release, ATCQ performed on SNL for the first time alongside special host Dave Chappelle, and just yesterday, the aforementioned Linden Blvd. and 192nd Street was officially renamed Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way.
On what would have been Phife Dawg’s 46th birthday, Billboard is reporting that WGIFHTY4YS has charted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the first time in 20 years since Beats, Rhymes and Life topped the list back in August of 1996.
Huge congrats are in order to the legendary quartet, who keep on winning. Thank YOU for your service.
