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By Tufayel Ahmed
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Rapper Phife Dawg of pioneering hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest has died at the age of 45.
Tributes began pouring in for the musician, real name Malik Taylor, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The group—whose seminal hit "Can I Kick It?" was released in 1991—has yet to comment on the news, however.
Hip-hop producer Statik Selektah appeared to confirm Taylor's death on his Twitter page, writing: "Confirmed. Rest in peace Phife. Man. I'm out."
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The star had battled ill health over the years after being diagnosed with Type I diabetes. He eventually underwent a kidney transplant in 2008 when his wife donated an organ.
"It's really a sickness," said the rapper in Beats, Rhymes & Life, a 2011 documentary charting the band's rise to fame. "Like straight-up drugs. I'm just addicted to sugar."
As news broke of Taylor's reported death on Wednesday, music artists, DJs and producers offered their condolences on Twitter.
See some of the tributes below:
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