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The tragic death of late great rapper Phife Dawg in March ended any hope A Tribe Called Quest fans had in ever seeing the seminal hip hop group get back together, but famed music producer L.A. Reid has hinted at a miracle. Speaking to the Rap Radar Podcast this week, the Epic Records CEO, not only revealed that a new A Tribe Called Quest album was recorded, but that it would be released “very soon.” Reid said that the LP is “a brand new album that they recorded before Phife [Dawg] passed away. I’m really happy about it man, it’s really something special. It’s one of the things I’m most excited about over everything we’re working on.”
Reid insisted that this posthumous released was in fact a new album and not a compilation of unreleased tracks and other recordings from the band’s Nineties output. A Tribe Called Quest members have not commented on Reid’s claims on social media.
If this good news is indeed true, it would be A Tribe Called Quest’s first release since The Love Movement back in 1998, which the group said would be their last. However, over the following 18 years they performed together live occasionally. Their final appearance before Phife Dawg’s death was a stellar one of “Can I Kick It?” on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
