A mural paying tribute to a rap group born and bred in Queens is now on display at one of the local spots that they made famous. NY1's Angi Gonzalez filed this report from St. Albans.
As an artist himself, Vincent Ballentine felt a certain obligation when he was asked to create a mural honoring the rap group "A Tribe Called Quest."
"They are legendary for a reason. They earned their place in history," Ballentine said.
The idea for the mural came about in early 2016 but kicked into high gear following the sudden death of Malik Taylor.
Known to many as "Phife Dawg," Taylor was a Queens native and one of rap group’s founding members. In March, Taylor passed away at the age of 45 from complications associated with diabetes.
"It went from want do this…to we have to do this," Ballentine added.
So organizers reached out to the remaining members of the group and their label, Jive Records, who put them in touch with the man behind the cover art for two of the group’s albums, "Midnight Marauders" and "The Low End Theory."
"He did the lettering, I kind of emulated the art work from the covers, and we kind of came together with this traditional [look], and it pays homage without being artistically overdone," Ballentine said.
Ballentine called the entire project a "community effort."
"It was a barbershop over here. Those brothers contributed. There was actually an online hip hop group, HHDG, they fronted a lot of money for it. A lot of people wanted to see it happen," Ballentine said.
Deciding where the mural would go was an easy decision. Supporters of the plan wanted it to be created on the side of Nu Clear Dry Cleaners on Linden Boulevard and 192nd Street. The business is the same location where "A Tribe Called Quest" filmed part of their music video for "Check The Rhime."
"We do have a lot of spectators that come and stand in front and take pictures of the cleaners because Phife did the video on top [of the business]," said Iris Wilcox, the manager at Nu Clear Dry Cleaners.
With the owner of the dry cleaner on board with the plan and the design in place, Ballentine got to work over the weekend. It was a three-day process that brought fans of the group out to catch a glimpse of the mural and reminisce.
"I remember the album cover because I actually have the album," said one man who stopped to take photos of the mural on his phone.
More artists will help complete the mural in the weeks ahead by installing detailed pieces that will depict the faces of each member of the group.