As time goes by, hip-hop greats tend to become greater. The past two years have been pretty eventful for the legendary hip-hop collective, A Tribe Called Quest. In the first quarter of 2016, the group’s lead emcee, Phife Dawg unexpectedly passed away from complications tied to diabetes, sending the entire hip-hop community into a vague mourning. Later that year, ATCQ dropped their sixth studio album We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (introduced as their final album) which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and the team also launched a streetwear brand back in November of last year that honors Tribe’s signature visually artistic emblems.
Yesterday (Mar. 2), the official Instagram account for the classic Queens collective shared a vintage photo of members Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad with a caption announcing the coming of a “major announcement” followed by recognition of their great fallen tongue Phife in hashtag form. “Major @atcq Announcement on Monday. Stay Tuned… #TheQuestIsOn#RIPPhifeDawg #WeLoveYouTRIBE.”
ATCQ’s own Jarobi White is not willing to spill the beans on whats to come, but promises that whatever it is, will be satisfying. The emcee turned chef told HipHopDX, “No spoilers like Black Panther. You know how good we are about keeping [our] secrets. It’s ill though!”
Speculations are circling around the possibilities of the “major announcement,” one of them being the release of the solo album Phife completed before he passed away. Another presumption Tribe fans are running with is the release of a new Tribe album, despite the group claiming their last effort, their final one. The only thing that can calm these wonders is Monday.
