Diabetes Late Nite Inspired by A Tribe Called Quest

We’re focusing on ‘KIDNEYS and DIABETES’ with musical inspiration from A Tribe Called Quest. 

Phife Dawg, born Malik Taylor, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in May of 1990. Experiencing constant thirst and bathroom visits, his grandmother, a nurse, tested him for diabetes after a performance in Connecticut. Initially, Phife admitted he did not take his diagnosis seriously, and maintained his same lifestyle.

"It's really a sickness," Taylor said in Beats, Rhymes & Life, Michael Rapaport's candid 2011 documentary on the group. "Like straight-up drugs. I'm just addicted to sugar."

Phife's initial resistance to treatment made it necessary for him to go on dialysis followed by a kidney transplant in 2008.  This past March he died at age 45. 

“When you learn you have diabetes, the first word you have to learn is acceptance,” he said during an interview with dLife TV hoping to encourage others to learn from his mistakes.

June’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast guests include MaryAnn Nicolay DTR, Dr. Braxton Cosby, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Funny Man Mike, Arnon Krongrad, MD, Catherine Lawrence and Mama Rose Marie. 

We will be featuring selected songs from their first album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, released in 1990, courtesy of SONY MUSIC.