I lördags skulle bortgångna A Tribe Called Quest-legenden Phife Dawg ha fyllt 51 år. I samband med detta gav DJ Rasta Root och Phifes familj en update kring det kommande postuma soloalbumet med rapparen. Enligt ett Instagram-inlägg från Phife Dawgs officiella konto kommer projektet, som verkar få titeln “Forever”, den 22 mars 2022 – på femårsdagen av hans död.
DJ Rasta Root har också förklarat för HipHopDX varför skivan dröjt så länge.
“When I finally realized we were going to be able to announce the release date on his birthday, I really got excited and also relieved because I know we were close to the finish line. I know this has taken a lot longer than we even expected it.
I want to thank all the fans and his fans for being patient with us and just know that we took our time with it because we knew we only had one shot to get it right and wanted to present the best body of work we could for Phife.”
Två singlar från skivan har redan släppts, däribland “Nutshell Pt. 2” med Busta Rhymes och Redman. I september kom “French Kiss Trois” där Redman också gästade tillsammans med J. Dillas yngre bror Illa J.
Redan 2017 avslöjade Redman att han och Busta Rhymes spelat in en låt och video till skivan som av allt att döma var “Nutshell Pt. 2”. I en intervju med Combat Jack, som också avled samma år, sa Wu-Tang-rapparen:
“Rest in Peace, Phife Dawg. I was blessed to be in his last days before he died. Me, him and Busta [Rhymes] shot a video. Now, when I tell you this new Phife Dawg album is ridiculous, yo! He just sitting to wait to get the right deal so it can come out. But we got a video — me, Busta and Phife Dawg. His album is like some old back-in-the-day — yo, his album is ridiculous. That’s what I’m really looking for.”
A Tribe Called Quest sista album “We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service” släpptes 2016, bara några månader efter Phife Dawgs död.
