Phife Dawg, founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, has died at age 45, according to Rolling Stone. The cause of death has yet to be reported, though in 2008, he underwent a kidney transplant after battling Type 1 diabetes.

Phife Dawg appears in all five of ATCQ's albums. He also rapped some of the group's most iconic lyrics, including but not limited to "Microphone check, one, two, what is this / the five-foot assassin with the roughneck business."

Phife Dawg could be his own harshest critic, like when he told RS that he disliked his now-iconic "Can I Kick It?" verse because of how high his voice was at the time. But the group's late manager Chris Lighty was just one of many who immediately saw his appeal.

"He brought the street to A Tribe Called Quest," Chris said in ATCQ documentary Beats, Rhymes and Life. "If Q-Tip was esoteric and on Pluto, Phife would bring them back to the moon so that it was in the realm of human understanding."

According to Price of hip-hop duo Audio Push, ATCQ was plotting a comeback album when Phife Dawg died.