Earlier this month, the estate for legendary emcee Phife Dawg officially unveiled his long-awaited posthumous album, Forever. The project debuted on Mar. 22 via AWAL, which is the sixth anniversary of the day he passed away.
The new album is equipped with 13 tracks and a long roster of collaborators including names like Rapsody, Renée Neufville, Busta Rhymes, Redman, Q-Tip, Lyric Jones, Little Brother, POS, and plenty others. On the production side, the boards were handled by the likes of J Dilla, 9th Wonder, Angela Winbush, and more. Today (Mar. 31), the official visual for the project’s title track has been revealed. The video includes uplifting photos and videos and also shares handwritten representations of the late emcee’s harmonious lyrics:
Not tryna express sorrow, mourn full acquainted, the name of the golden era, though, yo, can I live? (Come on)/ This here got too much bounce to be melancholic (for real) listenin’ DJs with the crates, spinnin’ at the parties (let’s go)/ From hole in the wall clubs to a neighborhood basement block parties in Queens, new Nile Afro Sheen (uh-huh)/ Fourteen ounce of Dax Pomade, Jheri curl, braids, waves
Of the tribute, video director Tony Reames shared, “When I first heard ‘Forever,’ I was not prepared for the depth and honesty, it took me a long time to let it all sink in. DJ Rasta Root came up with the idea of personal photos and videos to match the message for the video. The lyrics are also all in Phife’s own handwriting, we scanned in a lot of his writings to create a font as if Phife himself was telling you the story. I’m forever grateful to be around Phife, his family and everyone we met along the way.”
Be sure to press play on Phife Dawg’s brand new music video for “Forever” down below.