Run The Jewels Reflect on Phife Dawg Memories

Phife Dawg's death was a big blow to the hip-hop community. Run The Jewels are among those who have expressed their love and appreciation for Phife as they honored him with a special introduction on today's (March 25) episode of WRTJ on Beats 1 Radio.

"Everybody loves that dude and everybody knows what he's done for music," El-P said of Phife. "And everybody grew up feeling like this guy was someone you wanted to know. And that he represented something for us that was even sort of innocent in a way. I'd just like to say thank you Phife for inspiring me. I remember listening to Low End Theory. I had been kicked out of high school. I was in GED school in the L.E.S. All I could do was listen to Low End Theory. I was in a strange time of my life and Low End Theory kind of defined that time. Rest in peace Phife. I will miss you and your music. You're a hero to me and to a lot of other people."

Killer Mike spoke on his memories as Phife Dawg as well as the Five Foot Assassin's importance to hip-hop. He also explained how A Tribe Called Quest was a major inspiration for Run The Jewels.

"I remember cutting school to sneak to an Emory University concert to see you guys perform," Mike said. "Phife set it off. He made us proud to be Georgia Tech fans because he wore their jersey, to be Atlanta Braves fans because he wore their hats. He is responsible for the style and grace and the bop of the '90s. When you saw all these hood kids running around preppy. His rhymes were on point and clever. He loved sports and music in the same way that me and so many of my friends did. He is, not was, a constant inspiration to me for just how to be a cool motherfucker and drop dope ass rhymes. And how to be the best presentation of what a group of people who don't rap with each other's style should be. You guys were on the shortlist of people we wanted to emulate as a group."

You can listen to El-P and Killer Mike's entire message below. Rest in peace Phife Dawg.

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