The title track from the imminent posthumous album by A Tribe Called Quest‘s Phife Dawg has been shared – listen to ‘Forever’ below.
The record, also called ‘Forever’, arrives on Tuesday (March 22) – six years to the day that Phife passed away aged 45.
The founder member of the pioneering hip-hop group, real name Malik Taylor, died in 2016 from diabetes complications, following his involvement in A Tribe Called Quest’s sixth and final album, ‘We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service’. He had battled ill health for decades, having been diagnosed with diabetes in 1990.
New song ‘Forever’ samples famous uses of the word in songs by the likes of Outkast and Wu-Tang Clan.
Listen to it below.
The new album will also see performances from a range of artists including Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul’s Maseo and Pos, among others.
The forthcoming collection has been completed using notes that Phife left behind, which include details of how he envisaged the album sounding.
Throughout the past year, a string of posthumous Phife Dawg singles have been released by his estate. The first was ‘Nutshell Pt. 2’, which dropped last February and featured verses from Busta Rhymes and Redman.
That was followed by ‘French Kiss Deux’ in May and ‘French Kiss Trois’ in September, both of which feature Illa J, the brother of the late J Dilla.
“We give all glory to God for allowing Malik to accomplish everything his heart desired, including his solo music,” Taylor’s family said of ‘Forever’ in a statement about the album in 2020.
“He worked really hard to complete his album before he transitioned, and he was ready to share an album that was near and dear to his heart with his fans. His fans meant the world to him.”
See the tracklist for ‘Forever’ below.
1. ‘Cheryl’s Big Son (Intro)’
2. ‘Only A Coward’
3. ‘Fallback’ (Feat. Rapsody & Renée Neufville)
4. ‘Nutshell Pt. 2’ (Feat. Busta Rhymes & Redman)
5. ‘Sorry’ (Feat. V.Rich)
6. ‘Dear Dilla’ (Reprise) (Feat. Q-Tip)
7. ‘Wow Factor’ (Feat. Maseo of De La Soul)
8. ‘Residual Curiosities’ (Feat. Lyric Jones)
9. ‘God Send’ (Feat. Dwele)
10. ‘Round Irving High School’ (Feat. Cheryl Boyce-Taylor & Angela Winbush)
11. ‘French Kiss Trois’ (Feat. Redman & Illa J)
12. ‘2 Live Forever’ (Feat. Pos of De La Soul, Little Brother & Darien Brockington)
13. ‘Forever’