Celebration of Malik Izaak Taylor, "Phife Dawg" (11/20/70 - 3/22/16)

To honor Phife Dawg, I am shuffling A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders.  Consider all of the following SHUFFLE GOLD!!

1. "Scenario"--A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991):
I first heard A Tribe Called Quest as a college DJ.  I regularly played "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" and "Bonita Applebum" from their first album, but this album blew things wide open for the group. This song is the third single off of this seminal A Tribe Called Quest album. Phife starts the first verse:
"Heyo, Bo knows this, (What?) and Bo knows that (What?)
But Bo don't know jack, cause Bo can't rap
Well what do you know, the Di-Dawg, is first up to bat
No batteries included, and no strings attached"

2. "Skypager"--A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991): 
Before cellphones, we had pagers.  This song is a deep cut on the album and provides an education on the uses of the "skypager." Phife's verse here focuses on the pager's use for booty calls. Like a lot of his rhymes, this one has a sports reference.
"If you get your high, then mine is next
The 'S' in skypage really stands for sex
Beeper's goin off like Don Trump gets checks
Keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets"

3.  "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)"--A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993):
Well-established when this album came out, the first single "Award Tour" picked up where The Low End Theory left off, featuring Trugoy from De La Soul.  This song was a deeper cut but has one of Phife's more creative descriptions of himself:
"Hip hop scholar since being knee high to a duck
The height of Muggsy Bogues, complexion of a hockey puck
You better ask somebody on how we flip the script
Come to a Tribe show and watch the three kids rip"

4. "8 Million Stories"--A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993): 
This song is particularly appropriate for this tribute to Phife as it mostly features him.  He strings several stories together through the first 2 verses, making it difficult to pull anything out of context. Keeping with the sports theme started above, here is a Knicks (John Starks) reference:
"Everybody knows I go to Georgia often
Got on the flight and I ended up in Boston
With all these trials and tribulations, yo, I've been affected
And to top it off, Starks got ejected"

5. "Jazz (We've Got)"--A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991):
The second single off of the album directly connects hip hop to jazz and demonstrates the signature sound of the group that has been so influential in the years since.  If you don't already have it, take Phife's advice and get this record:
"I sing, and chat, I do all of that
It's 1991 and I refuse to come wack
I take off my hat to other crews that tend to rock
But the Low End Theory's here, it's time to wreck shop
I got Tip and Shah, so whom shall I fear
Stop look and listen, but please don't stare
So jet to the store, and buy the LP
On Jive/RCA, cassettes and CD's"