Hip-hop icon Malik "Phife Dawg" Taylor passed away in March, 2016 at the age of 45 from complications resulting from diabetes.

A Tribe Called Quest is legendary. They are one of the most influential hip-hop groups in history. They currently average more than 3 million listeners per month on Spotify. They're last album, released months after Phife's death, was widely lauded the New York Times.

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor is an award-winning poet. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2015 Barnes & Noble Writers For Writers Award and a VONA fellow. Her life papers and portfolio are stored at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City.

At a time in the United States when so many Black mothers are losing their Black children -- through illness and violence -- this book stands as a testament to the deep, ground-shifting impact of loss across generations.

Mama Phife Represents: A Memoir ( Breakbeat Poets )