I tisdags avled A Tribe Called Quest-medlemmen Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor i komplikationerna av diabetessjukdom. Under onsdagen fick nyheten om hans för tidiga bortgång, endast 45 år gammal, spridning i sociala medier och världen över har kondoleanser haglat över från artister, branschfolk och lyssnare.

Kort efter att Phife’s familj släppt ett uttalande om hans bortgång följde senare Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad och Jarobi White med ett gemensamt uttalande. Det lyder som följer:

“Our hearts are heavy. We are devastated. This is something we weren’t prepared for although we all know that life is fleeting. It was no secret about his health and his fight. But the fight for his joy and happiness gave him everything he needed. The fight to keep his family happy, his soul happy and those around him happy, gave him complete and unadulterated joy… until he heeded his fathers call.

“We love his family his mother, his father, his son, his wife, his nieces, his family here in New York, Atlanta, California and Trinidad.

“Thank you for the outpouring of prayers and support from the fans, fellow artists, music outlets, blogs, radio stations, DJ’s, social media and the music community at large. This too is part of his joy and means a lot to him. His family is overwhelmed by the support, well wishes and are thankful. His music and what he’s contributed is seismic and hard to measure. He’s affected us as much as he’s affected all of you. We’re inspired by his daily joy and courage. He wasn’t in pain. He was happy.

“We take comfort in knowing he will be beside his grandmother.”

Även Talib Kweli tog tillfället i akt att dela en längre text om hur Phife påverkade hans liv och karriär:

“The most exciting thing about Phife was watching him grow as an artist in front of us. He went from Tip’s homie to Phife Dawg to the Funky Diabetic to the Five Foot Assassin. He utilized his Trinidadian roots to add a Caribbean favor to his verses and commanded the respect of a giant even though he was smaller than most. When ATCQ broke up, Phife never stopped, recording great music with producers like Hi-Tek and J Dilla, and starting a business with DJ Rasta Root in Atlanta. He reinvented himself as a sports analysts and regularly appeared on sports programs.”

Läs texten i sin helhet via Billboard