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The late emcee Phife Dawg was one of the figures at the forefront of the New York collective A Tribe Called Quest. Comprised of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and rapper Jarobi White, the crew’s jazz-infused work saw them establish a unique breakaway sound. Labelled initially as “progressive rap”, the subgenre and aesthetic would come to be known as jazz-hop by the late 1990s.

The ensemble’s creators, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, were childhood friends who had grown up together in the St. Albans neighbourhood of Queens. Exploring themes surrounding Afrocentrism and The Five-Percent Nation that were arising in neo-soul and other areas of hip-hop the collective were looking at the African-American experience in a more holistic way than other prevalent acts at the time.

The four-piece outfit was recorded under many monikers, including Crush Connection and Quest. However, in 1988, they finally settled with A Tribe Called Quest. Appearing on underground records alongside acts such as Jungle Brothers, De La Soul and Roots, in 1989, the crew hired hip-hop’s gatekeeper Kool DJ Red Alert as their manager. With the kingpin of rap music as their manager, the crew gained popularity in New York City and, before long, the entire East Coast.

The ensemble’s 1993 album Midnight Marauders is still regarded as a hip-hop classic, with its single ‘Electric Relaxation’ among one of the best hip-hop tracks ever made. However, during a 2015 in-depth interview with Vulture magazine, a year before his tragic passing, Phife Dawg revealed some of his favourite Tribe songs of all time and explained his reasons for picking them respectively.

Phife Dawg’s five favourite A Tribe Called Quest songs:

5. ‘Footprints’ – People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, (1990)

Phife Dawg first selected a track from the collective’s 1990 debut project, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. The song ‘Footprints’ was song four of the 14-track body of work and received an official remix in 2015 featuring CeeLo Green when the group celebrated the album’s 25th anniversary.

Speaking about his minor involvement in their debut album and Q-Tip’s production on ‘Footprints’, Phife told Vulture, “I wasn’t at a lot of the sessions on the first album. There were a few I was there, but I can barely remember which ones they were. Lyrically, Q-Tip is pretty much genius on this one. And I love the Stevie Wonder sample, the way he flipped it and the drums.” For ‘Footprints’ Q-Tip sampled the 1976 Stevie Wonder song ‘Sir Duke’ as well as ‘Think Twice’ by Donald Byrd.

4. ‘Check the Rhime’ – The Low End Theory, (1991)

The New York emcee then proceeded to select a track from their iconic album The Low End Theory and unveiled that for this 1991 project, the group really came together and he was heavily involved in its creation. ‘Check The Rhime’ was the lead single of the legendary album.

Speaking about the collective’s attitude when making The Low End Theory, Phife explained to Vulture magazine, “We were absolutely in the studio for this one. It just sounded like we were Siamese twins, we were so in tune. It sounded like Tip could finish off a sentence and vice versa, and that’s really what made Tribe Tribe. ‘Check the Rhime’ showcases A Tribe Called Quest for what we really are!”

3. ‘Lyrics to Go’ – Midnight Marauders, (1993)

1993 was the year that A Tribe Called Quest really hit their stride and began to enter the hip-hop public consciousness. It saw the collective enter the top ten of the Billboard 200 for the first time, and the project’s second single, ‘Electric Relaxation’, has an extraordinary legacy. However, Phife Dawg didn’t choose the previously mentioned as one of his favourites but instead the track ‘Lyrics To Go’.

Speaking about the track sampled by Q-Tip for the song, Phife excitedly stated, “First of all, Minnie Riperton probably had the greatest voice that ever lived. Two, the way Q-Tip sampled this song [‘Inside My Love’] and was able to incorporate it with the drums, that was crazy. I wish I had been able to think of that!”

2. ‘Wordplay’ – Beats, Rhymes and Life, (1996)

The 1996 fourth album from A Tribe Called Quest debuted straight at number one on the Billboard 200, and ‘Wordplay’ is one of Phife Dawg’s personal highlights. Not released as a single, the J Dilla-produced song was minimal and distinct from a Q-Tip beat, which Phife liked.

Speaking about the track, the lyricist told Vulture, “It’s a dope record because J Dilla is known for his drums, kicks, snares. The bass line is crazy. Most of the time, when I say that I like something, it’s usually because of the production and the bass line. [J Dilla] wasn’t at the actual session, but it was myself, Q-Tip, and Consequence, just being in the control room freestyling, and eventually writing, and then going in the booth and laying it down.”

1. ‘Find a Way’ – Love Movement, (1998)

The Love Movement was the last album of A Tribe Called Quest’s run and saw them bow out with more beats from J Dilla and ‘Find A Way’ was released as the lead the single due to its sonic greatness.

In fact, Phife believed it was the most superior track they had ever recorded, stating, “J Dilla is just the man, period. I love the beat, the tempo, the bass line, and the way we made up our own hook and made everybody think that the lady was really saying that. That’s like my favourite Tribe record ever. Period.”