Phife

I am not a huge follower of Tribe. I consider myself a respecter of their work. They are a strong pillar of an era of Hip Hop that reminds me of being little. I plugged some ATCQ into my playlist the day Phife Dawg died. Tidal moved from  "Steve Biko" to "Deuces" and  No disrespect to Chris Brown's artistry ( let's not get into any opinions on that right now), but in that moment I understood why I have this divide between real Hip Hop and pop in my mind. Hip Hop has always inspired me to me do big things. Big audacious dreams, big audacious art. Puff my chest out, stand taller, take up more space.

I am jealous of his life. In 45 years he made great art, inspired people, traveled the world. I wonder if I have wasted some time... doing things the "right way,"  but hip hop is not fashion. The start up cost is higher. As are the opportunity cost. It's a similar but different hustle.

Hip hop is like my neighborhood. Phife and the rest of  tribe are like guys that went to school with my brothers. I appreciate their presence in my community. I am not strongly grieving his death, but I appreciate and am thankful for his life.