A Tribe Called Quest share details of posthumous Phife Dawg album
'Forever' will arrive next week, on the six-year anniversary of his death
By Joe Goggins
A Tribe Called Quest have announced details of a posthumous album from Phife Dawg.
‘Forever’ will arrive next Tuesday (March 22) – six years to the day since the founding member of the influential New York hip-hop trio, real name Malik Taylor, passed away at the age of 45.
Taylor died from complications relating to his decades-long battle with diabetes, but still managed to contribute extensively to what would become the final Tribe album, even over the course of a year when he has receiving dialysis treatment three times a week. The record, ‘We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service’, was released in November 2016, and went on to top the U.S. album chart.
Now, Taylor’s estate will release ‘Forever’, which was completed with the use of notes he left behind about how he envisaged the record sounding. It will feature contributions from Taylor’s fellow Tribe member, Q-Tip, as well as Busta Rhymes, Maseo and Pos of De La Soul, and Redman, among others.
The album has been a while in the planning, with Taylor’s estate saying having previously discussed it in a 2020 statement. “We give all glory to God for allowing Malik to accomplish everything his heart desired, including his solo music,” they said at the time. “He worked really hard to complete his album before he transitioned, and he was ready to share an album that was near and dear to his heart with his fans. His fans meant the world to him.”
Taylor’s estate went on to drop a number of singles in 2021, with the Busta Rhymes and Redman collaboration ‘Nutshell Pt. 2’ arriving in February, ahead of ‘French Kiss Deux’ in May and then ‘French Kiss Trois’ in September, both of which feature Illa J, the younger brother of late producer J Dilla.
Tribe confirmed the release of ‘Forever’ on Twitter. “This has been a long time coming. Finally, on March 22, 2022 the Estate of Malik Taylor release our beloved @phifeforever’s album, ‘Forever’. For now, enjoy the cover art work and the track listing/credits.”
The full track listing for ‘Forever’ is as follows:
- ‘Cheryl’s Big Son (Intro)’
- ‘Only a Coward’
- ‘Fallback’ [feat. Rapsody and Renée Neufville]
- ‘Nutshell Pt. 2’ [feat. Busta Rhymes and Redman]
- ‘Sorry’ [feat. V. Rich]
- ‘Dear Dilla (Reprise)’ [feat. Q-Tip]
- ’Wow Factor’ [feat, Maseo]
- ‘Residual Curiosities’ [feat. Lyric Jones]
- ‘God Send’ [feat. Dwele]
- ‘Round Irving High School’
- ‘French Kiss Trois’ [feat. Redman and Illa J]
- ‘2 Live Forever’ [feat. Pos, Little Brother and Darien Brockington]
- ‘Forever’