A sold-out crowd gathered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on Friday night (May 17) to honor the late Phife Dawg. As part of the tribute event — appropriately dubbed A Tribute To A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders — the City of Oakland proclaimed May 17 “Phife Dawg Day.”
UnderCover Presents Executive Director Lyz Luke, who spearheaded the ambitious UnderCover Presents event, read the mayor’s proclamation alongside We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service producer Starita, Phife’s mother Cheryl Boyce Taylor and Phife’s widow Deisha Head Taylor. HipHopDX was on site to capture the momentous occasion.
“A Tribe Called Quest is being celebrated this week with Bay Area bands, producers and artists celebrating the group’s groundbreaking album Midnight Marauders,” Starita read. “Now, therefore be it, we proclaim Friday, May 17, 2019 is Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Day.”
Phife spent the last 15 years of his life in the Oakland area where his wife is originally from. During that time, the Queens native worked with Starita on not only the last ever Tribe album but also Phife’s solo material.
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The tribute event at the YBCA boasted performances from some of the Bay Area’s finest, including Karega Bailey, MJ’s Brass Boppers, DJ Platurn and rap powerhouse RyanNicole. The event wraps up on Saturday (May 18).
Check back for the full story on the event next week, which will include updates on Phife’s solo album and more.
