By Patrick Donachie
A member of the celebrated Queens-based hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest who died earlier this year will be honored with a street co-naming this coming weekend, outside of a building now emblazoned with a mural of the famous group.
Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-St. Albans) announced he would host the co-naming outside of the Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners at the corner of 192nd Street and Linden Boulevard to remember Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor, one of the original members of the group. The stretch of street will now also be known as Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way.
Taylor, who died from complications from diabetes March 22, was 45 years old. A native of St. Albans, he formed A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with founding members Kamaal Ibn John Fareed (also known as Q-Tip), Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White, who left the group in 1991. The group made five records between 1990 and 1998, and “We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service,” a new record by the group, was released Friday.
A mural memorializing the group and its work was painted earlier this year on the side of the Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners, which the group used as the setting for its 1991 music video “Check the Rhime.” Mmebers of Taylor’s family, as well as other artists and hip-hop historians, will be on hand to celebrate the legacy of Taylor and A Tribe Called Quest at the co-naming, according to Miller.
The ceremony will take place Saturday at 1 p.m.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
