Trinidadian-born, Queens-raised poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor is the mother of the late Phife Dawg (1970-2016), founding member of the multi-platinum hip-hop grou. Cheryl Boyce-Taylor in conversation with Hanif Abdurraqib to celebrate the release of Boyce-Taylor’s intimate collection Mama Phife Represents, a tribute to her departed son Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor of the legendary hip-hop trio A Tribe Called Quest. Order a copy of Mama Phife Represents.Register through Eventbrite to receive a link to the video conference on the day of the event.
Mama Phife Represents is a hybrid-story that follows the journey of a mother’s grieving heart through her first two years of public and private mourning. Told through a tapestry of narrative poems, dreams, anecdotes, journal entries, and letters, these treasured fragments of their lives show a great love between mother and son. Early next year, Boyce-Taylor plans on releasing her new book Mama Phife Represents, a brilliant collection of poetry, short stories and handwritten letters all related to Malik “Phife Dawg.
A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg died in 2016 after a long fight with diabetes and his mother Cheryl-Boyce-Taylor will release a new book on Jan. 19 sharing insights on their love and relationship. A respected poet and educator in her own right, her latest book Mama Phife Represents tells her journey as a grieving mother dealing with the loss of her son over the past two years.
Mama Phife Represents will retail for $45 for the hardback which will look good on the mantle while the soft cover will sell for $16. It’s also available for pre-order and Amazon describes that the book as “[a] tapestry of narrative poems, dreams, anecdotes, journal entries, and letters as these treasured fragments of their lives show a great love between mother and son, artist and artist, teacher and friend.
Cheryl Boyce-Taylor’s gift includes drawings, emails, hip-hop lyrics, and notes Malik wrote to his parents beginning at age eight. Both elegy and praise song, there is joy and sorrow, healing, and a mother’s triumphant heart that rises and blooms again.”
Q-Tip also hit up Instagram announcing her memoirs last year, posting, “This is Phife’s Mom @cheryl.arrivalpoems latest book. This is her dedication to her son Malik. Please check this out!!”
(Image source: Instagram – @cheryl.arrivalpoems)
Mama Phife Represents Us
Boyce-Taylor spoke with Okayplayer about her latest work and what made her write the book. “After Malik passed away, I was losing a lot of memory. I couldn’t remember simple things [like] what day it was. I remember [asking] my partner, ‘Was my brother at Malik’s funeral service?'” she explained. “I knew that I was just confused. So more than anything else, I told myself that I had to document this so I could remember it. One of the things that I encountered was the big fear that I would forget about Malik.
Mama Phife Represents God
“That was one of the emotional upheavals that I was dealing with. I began writing in a journal, and I was also in therapy working very hard to steady myself and get back on my feet. It was a coping skill although I could never forget my child. He was my only child. I had Malik when I was 19, so we kind of grew up together.”
Phife Dawg’s memory will be further cemented this year as well as A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 classic The Low End Theory will be inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame.
