It was a sad day in the hip-hop community this week. Founding member of A Tribe Called Quest and rapper Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor died Tuesday at the age of 45.
While the cause of death has yet to be officially released, Rolling Stone reported that Taylor had dealt with many health issues due to a longtime battle with diabetes — he underwent a kidney transplant in 2008 — and noted that he said he was addicted to sugar like drugs. (Taylor also famously called himself “the Funky Diabetic” in several ATCQ songs.) In his final interview with the magazine last fall, Taylor was optimistic about the future and was working on a new album, Muttymorphosis, that was “basically my life story.”
The Queens native joined the New York City-based band at 19 and is credited with influencing the group’s rise to critical success. Taylor, with bandmates Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and honorary member Jarobi White, were game-changers to the early 1990s hip-hop sound. Together the foursome pioneered a more progressive style to their aggressive West Coast contemporaries that layered smooth jazz and Afro-centric beats with socially conscious lyrics. The iconic group was signed to Jive Records and recorded five studio albums. Last November, Tribe made its last performance together on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote the 25th anniversary reissue of their debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.
Since the news of Taylor’s death, artists like Questlove, Kendrick Lamar, Sean Lennon, Chris Rock, Chance the Rapper and Mac Miller, among others, have noted ATCQ’s importance to their own careers and took to social media to say goodbye to the late hip-hop legend known as Phife Dawg.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead will kick off three sold-out nights at The Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday, March 24 for 
What does a music-monger love more than great weather on Shakedown Street? The answer is a solo project from a member of a favorite band.
During band introductions, Oliver referred to Chris Wood as his “little dancing brother” followed by Chris playfully firing back, calling Oliver his “older, but not more mature brother, and he meant that in a good way.” Over the years, we have seen the brothers create a signature sound while simultaneously forming a stronger bond with each other. The on-stage family banter always adds a bit of comic relief before returning to their deep and thought-provoking lyrics. 
Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist ditched their usual instruments and were setup in front of modular synthesizers, while Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks/Ponytail band-mate Jeremy Hyman took over the drumming duties. For Painting With, the band made a conscious decision to keep the songs short and to the point. The songs are fast and dense, like they had taken their essence and squashed it into a hard little piece of bubble gum. It was on the road that the songs would be chewed up and stretched out.
As with most Animal Collective shows, the latest album was heavily featured. But that didn’t stop them from throwing several older gems into the set. The new tracks had a sense of frenetic acid pop, which pulsated with tribal rhythms that drove the energy forward and carried momentum throughout the set, even if the audience wasn’t necessarily familiar with all of the new material.
The droning trance of “Bees” gave everyone a chance to recollect themselves during the beginning of the encore before “Lying on the Grass” melted into the old-school classic “Alvin Row”, a song that many people were hearing live for the first time as they had never played the song live as a band before this tour. Some people were completely losing their shit, and it’s hypnotic builds and releases were a great way to end the show.
A highlight of the night was when 
Singer-songwriter and blues guitarist Samantha Fish’s third studio release, Wild Heart, is rife with powerful vocals, raunchy guitar riffs and thunderous drumming. Fish’s vocals will remind listeners of other female powerhouses like Grace Potter and 
Zuli arrived just in time for their 9.30 slot, having played another set – in another borough, no less – just beforehand. A pretty intense schedule didn’t impede the joyous musical moves that were on display throughout their performance. A large room like LPR, when not-quite-full with the mixed crowd of a Monday night – fans, friends of the other bands, NYU juniors catching up after their Christmas breaks – can create an awkward vibe for some live bands. If Zuli sensed this difficulty at all, they tackled it with jesting stage banter, the settling of a beef about their favorite restaurant (it might, after all, be 
On “The Celebrity Apprentice,” the stars that compete on the show partake in business tasks and assignments to raise money for their charity of their choice. No word on what charity Neil will raise money for. This season, Arnold Schwarzenegger has replaced Trump. Filming is expected to start in New York City in March with the show debuting this September on NBC.