A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg Dead at 45

A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg Dead at 45

RNB Philly Featured Video

7th Annual Rock The Bells Festival

Malik Taylor, infamously known as Phife Dawg, who helped launch A Tribe Called Quest to both commercial and critical success, died Wednesday at the age of 45. Rolling Stone has confirmed the rapper’s death, though an official statement has yet to be released.

While the cause of death has yet to be announced, Taylor had had health issues for years, undergoing a kidney transplant in 2008 to deal with a longtime battle with diabetes.

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