Tag: buggin’ out

RIP Phife Dawg – Favorite Verses: #3 – “Buggin’ Out”

Phife establishes himself as a peer to Q-Tip, allowing ATCQ to go to new heights.

v0064131_posterframe_putpat_large[1]Phife was a bit of an afterthought on Tribe’s first album; in fact, I think he was only on 4 tracks on People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. Their second release, The Low End Theory, starts out with the Q-Tip featured “Excursions”…. so I thought it would be more of the same (Q-Tip’s rhymes with some dashes of the Phifer).

I knew I was wrong 8 seconds into the second track on the LP. Phife comes out H.A.M. on “Buggin’ Out” 1. Like I mentioned in the #4 post (“Electric Relaxation”), this is easily one on Phife’s most memorable verses.

Yo, microphone check one two what is this
The five foot assassin with the ruffneck business
I float like gravity, never had a cavity
Got more rhymes than the Winans got family

The video takes his verse to the next level. The 5-ft Assassin, in a canary yellow sweatshirt and “bug out” eyes, KILLS it.

And yes, Phife, I agree – riding on the train with no dough does “suck”.

A Tribe Called Quest – Buggin’ Out