HAMILTON Cast Pays Tribute to Late Rapper Phife Dawg During Performance

During Wednesday's performance of the hit Broadway musical HAMILTON, creator and star Lin Manuel Miranda and his cast paid tribute to A Tribe Called Quest rapper Phife Dawg, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 45 due to complications from diabetes.

Miranda turned to Twitter to share that he quoted Phife's lyrics "here we go yo, here we go yo" during the high-energy, battle-themed number "Yorktown.":

The cast also sang Phife Dawg's lyric "Can I kick it?" during the number to which Hercules Mulligan responded, "Yes ya can":

Miranda later spoke to Billboard about the late rapper, sharing, "He rapped about being diabetic, he rapped about being 5 feet tall," he said. "He took the things that you think would discount someone from being able to have a career as an MC and made them superpowers."

He continued, "(A Tribe Called Quest) opened the door in terms of subject matter. They were just authentically themselves, and they rapped about their friendships and New York stories. It just felt like these were your friends and they got on and they were telling you what life was like on their side of things. And that's why we responded - because they were real with us every time. ... I mourn the loss of Phife's voice, I mourn that interplay between him and Q-Tip. But I'm also grateful for it. Phife was 45 years old, and that is too, too young. He struggled with his health his entire life, but the things that he made are going to stay with us forever. You can't help but be grateful for that."

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The new musical Hamilton has book, music and lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award-winning composerLin-Manuel Miranda, who also plays the title role. The musical is directed by Thomas Kail, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and music direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. Hamilton is inspired by Ron Chernow's biography "Alexander Hamilton."

The cast of Hamilton is comprised of Lin-Manuel Miranda (Alexander Hamilton), Daveed Diggs(Marquis De Lafayette,Thomas Jefferson), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler),Christopher Jackson (George Washington),Jonathan Groff (King George), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Peggy Schuyler, Maria Reynolds), Javier Muñoz (Hamilton alternate), Okieriete Onaodowan(Hercules Mulligan, James Madison), Leslie Odom, Jr. (Aaron Burr),Anthony Ramos(John Laurens, PhilipHamilton) and Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton).

HAMILTON is the acclaimed new musical about the scrappy young immigrant Alexander Hamilton, the $10 Founding Father who forever changed America with his revolutionary ideas and actions. During his life cut too short, he served as George Washington's chief aide, was the first Treasury Secretary, a loving husband and father, despised by his fellow Founding Fathers and shot to death by Aaron Burr in their legendary duel.