Adele ended her night at the 2017 Grammy Awards with back-to-back wins for album of the year and record of the year, butused her final moments on stage to salute Beyoncé and her “monumental” album “Lemonade.” Beyoncé, meanwhile, wowed the audience with a spiritual performance and also took home the prize for urban contemporary album. Chance the Rapper was also among the top winners of the night, taking the prize for new artist as well as rap album.
Among the many inspiring artists who passed in 2016, the rapper Phife Dawg’s death hit the hip-hop community hard. As co-founder of A Tribe Called Quest, he helped create classics of the genre including “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,” “Midnight Marauders” and “The Low End Theory.”
The group issued its swan song, “We Got It From Here … Thank You for Your Service” in 2016, and its co-founders Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip landed on stage with Busta Rhymes and best new artist nominee Anderson .Paak.
In introducing the tribute, Q-Tip gestured toward an empty microphone and dedicated the performance to Phife.
Anderson .Paak sang and played drums, but it was the roar of Busta Rhymes that made the biggest impression. Decrying “President Agent Orange,” he and the others crashed through a makeshift wall and a mass of immigrants moved onto the stage and down the aisles.
Said Rhymes: “I just want to thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all of the evil you been perpetuating throughout the United States. I want to thank President Agent Orange for [inaudible] and the Muslim ban.”
The tribute featured the older Tribe tracks “Movin’ Backwards” and “Award Tour” but focused on the new track “We the People.” A timely song, particularly in light of recent changes to U.S. immigration policies, its chorus jumped out of the speakers:
“All the black folks, you must go/ All the Mexicans, you must go/ All the poor folks, you must go/ Muslims and gays, we hate your ways/ See all you bad folks you must go.”
At the end with the people alongside him onstage, Q-Tip screamed, “Resist! Resist! Resist!”
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