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Dave Chappelle reflected on an unforgettable night with A Tribe Called Quest for the group’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
During his speech, which took place on Saturday, detailing how important the group was in changing hip-hop, music, and culture, the comedian reflected on the passing of ATCQ member Phife Dawg in 2016 when the legendary rapper was just 45 years old.
“When Phife passed away — yes, make some noise for Phife — though I remember it happened suddenly, I had tickets to a Prince concert, and Phife passed, and the same night for those tickets was Phife’s funeral. Wasn’t even a question. I said, “I’ll see Prince another time,’” explained Chappelle. “And we went to the Apollo to say goodbye to one of hip-hop’s heroes. And that was a very difficult time.”
Phife's star-studded memorial service had hip-hop's elite come pay homage to the influential lyricist and everything he accomplished. Rap legend Busta Rhymes took the stage to pay his respects then, thanking Phife, and the group, for letting him appear on the song "Scenario" from ATCQ's The Low End Theory LP. Ye also took the stage at the 2016memorial service and pointed out how influential Phife and ATCQ was for him. “Tribe made Kanye West," he said. "Made the kid with the pink Polo. Made it so I could dress funny. I’m not sorry if I said something wrong.”
Following this memorial service, Dave recounted meeting up with the group.
“Everyone met at Q-Tip’s house, and me, an outsider, got to see the Native Tongues be together and mourn their friends,” said Dave during his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame speech in honor of Tribe. “Latifah was there, and everybody was there. De La was there. And we laughed that night.”
He continued, “We played old videos of movies we’d all been in,” Dave continued. “Old records we all made and teased each other, and then at the end of the night, Q-Tip played the last studio record that Phife was on. The album, ironically, was called, Thank You 4 Your Service, We Got It from Here.”
Dave wrapped up his story by thanking ATCQ for everything they’ve done for hip-hop — and for him by bringing up that Tribe invited him to join them for their appearance on Saturday Night Live.
“Tribe, I want to thank you for your service,” said Dave. “What you’ve done for our culture means the world for me, but what you did for me that night changed my life, because that night you shared your platform with me and invited me to be on Saturday Night Live with you, and it brought me back to television after 12 years in the cold. And I will always, always be grateful for you.”
Following Chappelle’s touching induction, videos from André 3000, Questlove, and Mike D were played on a screen, discussing how important that ATCQ was for hip-hop. Afterwards, a medley of the group’s classic songs was performed by Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, the Roots, Common, Queen Latifah, and Spliff Star.
In his acceptance speech, ATCQ member Q-Tip explained what drove the group. “What’s more rock and roll than the blues? But just like our predecessors, we had to find spaces on the outskirts of cities and towns, from a southern sun house off Robert Johnson Crossroads to a transformed room in a hood tenement on Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx,” he explained. “The need to express burns in us with an art-fueled determination. A spark. The spark that embers within many of us in this room, and the spark that burned within the four of us boys in 1985 in New York City.”
English (US) ·