The New York-based musician Phife Dawg (born Malik Isaac Taylor), popularly called 'The Five Foot Assasin' died on Wednesda at the age of 45 after a long battle with multiple illnesses including diabetes and renal failure. 

The artist will be mostly remembered as the co-founder of the rap band 'A Tribe Called Quest' along with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed back in 1985. They made music together untill the bands dissolution in 1998, after which they only appeared together for live  performances of their work from earlier albums.

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One of their most popular and critically acclaimed hip-hop albums has been The Low End Theory, released in 1991, in which the rapper coined the term 'five foot assasin' for himself, owing to his short stature. Can I Kick It?  from the album was perhaps their biggest hit.

'Quest,' as the group later came to be called, was distinguished by its attempt to break away from the cliché of established rap music of the time and address new issues with  a unique style that won them acclaim as social narrators of their time.

Having suffered renal failure the rapper underwent a kidney transplant back in 2008, his wife being the donor. However he continued to suffer from kidney problems and was on the waiting list for yet another transplant.

His ill health seriously affected his family life, with him bejng unable to spend time outdoors with them, especially his step son who plays basketball. A regret that weighed heavily on the artist.

As reported by BBC, just a year ago while looking back at his career the mucisian had admitted that he never expected to get this famou.

"I never expected it to be this big. I just thought we were going to be celebs in the hood," he said, adding that it's unbelievable how people as far as Australia knew his songs word for word.

Tagship hop, Rapper, Music, celebrity news