Hip hop just lost one of its founding fathers.
Phife Dawg, one of the founding members of the legendary hip-hop collective, A Tribe Called Quest, reportedly passed away Wednesday at 45.
Rolling Stone andBillboard confirmed the rapper's death, though the group has yet to release an official statement. The cause of death is unknown.
Born Malik Taylor in 1970, he founded A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. One of rap's landmark early acts, A Tribe Called Quest released five critically and commercially successful albums between 1990 to 1998, responsible for hits like Bonita Applebum, Can I Kick It?, I Left My Wallet in El Segundo, Scenario and Check the Rhime.
