Phife Dawg - Biters Beware
The Funky Diabetic weighs in on keeping it real away from home, the "N" word in world hip hop, and road relationships.
Photography by Che Kothari
Phife Dawg recently camped out with us on an exclusive visit to Toronto, rolling deep with A Tribe Called Quest which recently re-united to the delight of fans the world over. The Five Foot Assassin and his fellow Tribesmen rocked a sold-out show at the Kool Haus, drawing on years of experience and arguably one of the most classic catalogs of crowd pleasers ever, easily elevating the event to epic status. Since Tribe’s reputation has long been cemented as one of hip hop’s most formidable groups, Toronto expected nothing less from the man whose track record's longer than a DC20 aircraft.
Noted for being among the first groups to sample jazz as well as for their positive, non-violent rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest rose to fame in the early 90’s - and to this day the dynamic interplay of the two lyricists Phife Dawg and Q-Tip remains legendary. Earwaks was blessed with the opportunity to sit down with the living legend himself... here's what the beloved Trini gladiator had to say...
EW: So wherever you go, Japan, Germany, the U.S. - people are sampling. What do you think about that?
Phife Dawg: As long as its flavour, I’m down with it. This whole sampling thing is an art. A lot of people say we’re taking stuff… Nah, we’re just highlighting it. So if you in Cambodia and they sample what they like, and they freak it, you can’t front on it. There’s a Preemo everywhere, you know what I’m saying. There’s a Tim-baland, a Prince Paul everywhere you go. As long as they have the technique down and they honour their craft, or don’t mind honouring their craft, I’m down with it.
EW: What happens when you take your view of keeping it real somewhere else, somewhere where it's not recognized or picked up as hot?
Phife Dawg: It boils down to just being your self. Don’t try too hard because that’s when people notice. Say you go to London in Amsterdam mode - that’s when they can read through you, when you show your not-so-true colours. But if you have a way of doing things in Toronto, in terms of keeping it real, keep it real like that - keep it Toronto. Don’t go up to Montreal and try to switch that up. Cause Montreal is gonna be like “pfffft…dude is frontin’”. So it's really just about being yourself at the end of the day.
EW: I know you’re of Trinidadian descent. Were you born there?
Phife Dawg: I was born in Queens. But I was the first person in my family actually born in New York. The whole family was born in Trinidad.
EW: North America will always be respected for its hip hop scene. Cali and New York will always be respected. What do people from other places in the world have to do to be respected here? There could be some Trini dude coming fresh off the boat with his thick accent or whatever, and people will just laugh him off and show no respect. What do they have to do to get accepted in North America and not just be perceived as that freshie that people ain't really feeling?
Phife Dawg: Like I said earlier, just be your self. DJ Honda was himself. He had his own hat, hoodies; he freaked it because he was himself. Whatever an artist does, it can change. In Trinidad, say you a calypso artist, and you wanna rap. Ease your way into it. Learn the game, how the game works out here. If you’re not comfortable with it, go back to being yourself. It’s all about your dignity at the end of the day. You gotta be you, man. I’m Trinidadian man - I’ll never change that.
That’s one thing I like about Toronto, it’s such a hotbed of people. Go through one block, it’s mad Brazilians, another block Portuguese, another block Trinidadians or Jamaicans. I’ll never change man. I can go to another block, they’re gonna know I’m Trini. Not in an ignorant or malicious way, but this is what I stand for, this is me. I’m from New York, I’m not gonna try and be Pharrell, whose from Virginia Beach. I’m gonna show love though, and learn everything I can from him and anyone else out there who is doing their thing. But the one thing I hate is biters man. Unoriginality, that’s what gets under my skin.
EW: Okay. Well this is something that gets under my skin, and I’m sure it gets under yours a lot more. The ‘N’ word. That bad, bad “N” word has so much history to it. Since hip hop is such an influential culture worldwide, that word tends to go along with it and has since some of the first raps. So what happens now, if there’s some guy rapping in Germany using it? How do you feel about that? Someone in the Philippines, or in China?
Phife Dawg: He’s gonna get his ass whooped, it’s that simple. I don’t care how it’s used, how it’s said, that’s not for you to be saying. Like Q-Tip said on “Sucka Nigga”, we as black people tend to use it as a term of endearment. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of black people still hate that word, due to what their ancestors went through. But I can say it to Q-Tip, he can say it to me, I’m not gonna feel no way. “Yo waddup nigga”, that don’t mean no thing to me. But if Vanilla Ice was there saying ‘Yo waddup nigga’ - he getting his ass whooped. Stop it, cut it out! You need to know where to draw the line, and a lot of people get so comfortable and they don’t know where that line is. You can be hip hop all you want, that word has nothing to do with hip hop at the end of the day. You better have some type of respect.
EW: You like the fact that people all over the world though, are taking hip hop and making it their own?
Phife Dawg: Yeah definitely. If you think about where it all started and came from, and what was being said when it was started, and for it float everywhere like this, it’s a beautiful thing. That’s why I don’t like biting and things like that. I like to see it constantly expanding. You have to reinvent yourself every time. The only people I know who can sing about the same thing, the same way, with maybe the same track, are in country music. Garth Brooks, The Judds, Alabama and all those people, they can sing about “she broke my heart in Arizona” and sell ten million records constantly. We can’t do that. One rapper can come out with an album, his debut, and sell ten million. His next record isn’t gonna sell ten million, and if it does, he’s a lucky dude. Kanye did his thing with his first two albums. But no mc should be surprised if they sell ten million the one time, and than half a million the next. Don’t be surprised because hip hop is the most fickle of all music. There’s so many albums out there right now, that I think are pretty good, but they’re not receiving the time of day. Like the Big Bang album is hot and Busta is used to doing two or three million and things like that. And now the album is stalled for whatever reason. One of the reasons is that people aren’t really buying records. It ain’t Busta’s fault. Busta did the album he was supposed to do, but people for whatever reason aren’t buying records. I don’t care how much promotion you do or whatever the case may be. So the best thing for Busta to do right now, is hit the road hard, hit the road as long as he can and make his money like that. Eventually it will go platinum and he can brag about his status again. But nobody buying records right now man.
EW: We’re gonna change things up here and play a little game. Very easy question, how important are the following relationships to you: music, girls, family.
Phife Dawg: Well, to put it in order. I’ll say family, my wife as part of family, music, then sports.
EW: NBA, NFL, what sports?
Phife Dawg: Basketball and NFL as a matter of fact. But in terms of how important, I’d say family is most important, because without that support, you can fall flat on your face. As far as hip hop, things can be going really good for you and then you just hit a drought. You need that support so you can fall on some cushion rather than concrete. You might have some health issues or something. Your family will be there for you. I can always go home and my family will always hold me down and say “It’s gonna be alright”. I don’t care who you are, a lot of people front like they never kissed their momma before, that’s wack. We all have feelings and go through misfortunes, but at the end of the day, you need your family.
As for girls, I’ve had my fun. Some were cool, some weren’t, whatever. But seeing that I’m married, I’ve got my support. I don’t need to worry about that no more.
Music: music makes the world go ‘round. I don’t care whether it’s hip hop, soca, reggae, Beethoven. At the end of the day we all need music because it’s soothing, it’s relaxing, it puts you in a frame of mind.
As far as sports go, I think my Eagles won today. My teams win, I’m elated, my teams lose, I wanna break the TV.
EW: This is for the men out there who have a wife or are in a relationship. You know, the punani, it can be like kryptonite to a lot of guys. And when they’re on tour, they tend to forget about their wife at home. What have you done to solidify your relationship status without falling into the temptation?
Phife Dawg: You know what man - I’ve been doing this since ’89, and I’ve had my fun. And even back then, there were times you get your groove on with a shortie or whatever, and once your groove’s done, it was like “damn, what am I doing?” or “OK, what’s next?” But since I’ve been married for the last year and a half, I’m good. I still hang out with girls and flirt, don’t get me wrong. But in terms of penetrating and all that, I got to look at my wife in the face. And its not a good look if you’re getting down like that. I gotta think about my reason for being here, which is to make money for my family. For me to be doing the extracurricular at the same time as making the paper... it’s almost like me giving her drug money.
Links: Myspace.com/phifedawg
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big ups
now thats some dope shit. much repect to phife for speaking the real
Awesome
Really good piece, and excellent video...
\m/. (u_u) .\m/
That's what I'm talkin' about. Also, nice shirt.
The homeboy Phife
That's a really nice article. It's so good to see Q-Tip and Phife still doing their thang. I've always been a big fan of A Tribe called Quest. Much love to them and respect to all the people that made rap/hip hop what it is today. LOVE IS LOVE!!!!
Hello
Hip Hop, I struggle with you. Phife you're a hero
Big Ups
Phife interviews are like a little window into REAL HIPHOP. Peace hermano.
But who REALLY deserves props right about now is all that Photography by Che Kothari... you are genius loco.
Phife = GOAT
Been saying it since 1991.
Phife is the truth.
Plain and simple.
Phife CAN fuck with your favorite Emcee.
Trust that.
Phife
Thanks for being you through all these years. Its appreciated.
Phife??
Phife is a genius. Much respect.Did anyone see the Hip Hop Honors Phife slim down alot. Was he sick?