Phife Dawg – “Forever”

A new posthumous album from the late, great Phife Dawg is dropping this week. The A Tribe Called Quest legend died in 2016, a few months before Tribe released their glorious reunion album and grand finale We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. Six years later, we’re about to get the follow-up to his lone solo album, 2000’s Ventilation: Da LP.

Although the industry standard album release day is Friday, Forever is dropping on Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of Phife’s death. It includes a couple of the singles that have made their way online over the past year and change: the Busta Rhymes and Redman collab “Nutshell Pt. 2” and the Illa J team-up “French Kiss Trois,” which also features Redman now. Other guests on the album include Phife’s Tribe partner Q-Tip, De La Soul members Maseo and Pos (on separate tracks), Rapsody, Little Brother, Dwele, V.Rich, Lyric Jones, Darien Brockington, Renée Neufville, Angela Winbush, and Phife’s mother, the poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor.

Forever’s title track is also its closer. Produced by DJ Rasta Root, V. Rich, and Nottz, the piano-led, string-laden track samples a couple memorable uses of “forever” in hip-hop history, one from André 3000 on OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” and one from Ol’ Dirty Bastard on Wu-Tang Clan’s “Triumph.” “Forever” is out today ahead of the full album’s release three days from now. Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Cheryl’s Big Son (Intro)”
02 “Only A Coward”
03 “Fallback” (Feat. Rapsody & Renée Neufville)
04 “Nutshell Pt. 2” (Feat. Busta Rhymes & Redman)
05 “Sorry” (Feat. V.Rich)
06 “Dear Dilla (Reprise)” (Feat. Q-Tip)
07 “Wow Factor” (Feat. Maseo of De La Soul)
08 “Residual Curiosities” (Feat. Lyric Jones)
09 “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”

Forever is out 3/22 on AWAL. There will be an album release event on 3/23 at the NYC hip-hop club SOB’s with host Peter Rosenberg and special guests. Tickets are available here.