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<\/p>\n\u201cNow here\u2019s a funky introduction of how nice I am.<\/p>\n
Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m like an energizer cause, you see, I last long.<\/p>\n
My crew is never ever whack because we stand strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Five years ago I attended a screening of Michael Rapaport’s documentary “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest”. Tribe had been one of my absolute favorite Hip Hop bands (still is). \u00a0I went to a TCQ show shortly\u00a0after college when I moved to New York City. \u00a0Busta Rhymes made a guest appearance and I remember fondly how everyone went\u00a0bananas-cuckoo-crazy when he jumped on stage. \u00a0It was at THAT\u00a0very show where\u00a0A Tribe Called Quest announced that they were breaking-up. \u00a0It was shocking.<\/p>\n
Years later I learned Michael Rapaport (actor\/director) was at the very same NYC show in 1998. \u00a0He was so fascinated by the break-up and was a super fan, that he decided to make a documentary or “rapumentary” about the group’s rise to fame and subsequent feuding and break-up. \u00a0I made it my mission to go to the opening screening of the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival. \u00a0I knew Phife Dawg (member of TCQ) was diabetic, person-with-diabetes, and had undergone a kidney transplant. \u00a0i was quite curious to see how he was doing.<\/p>\n
What I didn’t know, and was surprised to find while viewing the movie, was the significant role diabetes played in the break-up and conflicts within the band. \u00a0Diagnosed in 1990, Phife made it clear in both the movie and in the Q&A with the audience, that he struggled with his\u00a0diabetes diagnosis. \u00a0Phife\u00a0had problems with\u00a0hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia\u00a0as the fame of the band grew. \u00a0He also addressed how fluctuations in glucose levels led to moodiness which also led to conflicts with his bandmates. \u00a0I sat in the theater next to my college roommate, as\u00a0Phife spoke, we both cried.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Can I kick it?<\/p>\n
Yes you can!<\/p>\n
This morning, I read that Phife passed away. \u00a0I just saw a release from his family that he passed from complications of diabetes. \u00a0One of my brothers contacted me about whether Phife was T1D or T2D. \u00a0Over the years, I have seen reports\u00a0of both. \u00a0All I know, is when I\u00a0hear of a\u00a0loss of life from diabetes, I am flooded with feelings and then ideas. Today, I think of my\u00a0many happy memories listening to and seeing a Tribe Called Quest while in college, when I was a brand new New Yorker, and at a film screening. \u00a0I think of the massive influence TCQ had on so many of today’s musicians. \u00a0I think of all the times I giggled listening to the incredibly creative lyrics of Tribe songs.<\/p>\n
“When’s the last time you heard a funky diabetic?”<\/p>\n
![\"Mayor\"](\"http:\/\/www.surfacefine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Mayor-287x300.jpg\")
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\u201cNow here\u2019s a funky introduction of how nice I am. Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram. I\u2019m like an energizer cause, you see, I last long. My crew is never ever whack because we stand strong.\u201d … Continue reading