A Tribe Called Quest member Phife Dawg sadly passed away four months ago, but his name and legacy live on to be more powerful than ever.
Five days after Phife’s death, Tribe fans launched a change.org petition to ask New York Council Member I. Deneek Miller and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to “support” their request to co-name Queens’ Linden Boulevard – between 192 Street and 193 Street – to A Tribe Called Quest Boulevard. The group chose this name because of the group’s class “Check the Rhime” track where Q-Tip and Phife kick off their verses by saying “Back in the days on the Boulevard of Linden/We used to kick routines and the presences was fittin’.”
Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest Has Died at 45
With the help of thousands of signatures, the voices of rap fans across the country were heard, and now, they can finally rejoice. According to TMZ, it was annouced yesterday that Councilman Miller and other city officials signed off on the co-naming of the Queens borough street on July 14, but ther’s a twist. Instead of co-naming the street A Tribe Called Quest Boulevard, it will now be recognized as Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way. The name change came at the request of Phife’s widow.
There’s no set date for the street’s revised name, but the co-name is certainly official.
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