Born Malik Isaac Taylor in 1970, Phife grew up in Queens, New York, where he co-founded pioneering rap group A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with his classmates Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Although the group's debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, initially received a lukewarm response, their sophomore effort, Low End Theory, was acclaimed when it was released in 1991 and showed Phife's rap skills for the first time as he, now officially a member of the group, and Q-Tip collaborated on tracks.

Phife, who was also known as The Five Foot Assassin and The Five Footer because of his diminutive height, offered more provocative and boisterous lyrics to Q-Tip's famously smooth flow. In his high-pitched voice he introduced himself as a "funky diabetic" on Oh My God, a track off A Tribe Called Quest's third album, Midnight Marauders, as well as speaking about human rights and police activism in their music.