Phife Dawg passed away last night at the young age of 45, and since then the hip hop community and his fans all over the world have been mourning his death.
Now, A Tribe Called Quest has released a statement to share their feelings about their brother's sad passing. "Our hearts are heavy. We are devastated. This is something we weren't prepared for although we all know that life is fleeting," the statement begins. "It was no secret about his health and his fight. But the fight for his joy and happiness gave him everything he needed. The fight to keep his family happy, his soul happy and those around him happy, gave him complete and unadulterated joy... until he heeded his fathers call."
It continues, "We love his family his mother, his father, his son, his wife, his nieces, his family here in New York, Atlanta, California and Trinidad. Thank you for the outpouring of prayers and support from the fans, fellow artists, music outlets, blogs, radio stations, DJ's, social media and the music community at large. This too is part of his joy and means a lot to him. His family is overwhelmed by the support, well wishes and are thankful. His music and what he's contributed is seismic and hard to measure. He's affected us as much as he's affected all of you. We're inspired by his daily joy and courage. He wasn't in pain. He was happy."
"We take comfort in knowing he will be beside his grandmother," the statement concludes.
The iconic emcee – born Malik Taylor – died from complications resulting from diabetes, his family confirmed to BET earlier today. 

Several in hip hop have already reacted to the news of his passing including Mac Miller, who released a song in his honor, and Kendrick Lamar, who interrupted his set at a Sydney, Australia concert last night in order to pay tribute.

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(Photo: Rodrigo Vaz/FilmMagic)