The LP is tentatively titled Give Thanks.

A solo album by A Tribe Called Quest member Phife Dawgwho died on March 22 due to complications from diabetes, is due to land in early 2017.

The news was revealed by Phife’s widow Desha Head Taylor, who was speaking at a press event before the recent ceremony to rename the corner of Linden Boulevard and 192th Street in Queens, New York Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor Way.

As OkayPlayer reports, Head Taylor says Phife completed “his entire solo album before he transitioned” and it will be ready for release sometime during the first quarter of 2017. The record, tentatively titled Give Thanks, follows Phife’s 2000 solo debut Ventilaton: Da LP, and was teased back in April with the release of solo charity single ‘Nutshell’, featuring a beat by J Dilla.

In the same interview, Head Taylor also spoke about Phife’s recording sessions for the celebrated new album from A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. “There were times where he was working on the album where he would send me video footage of him rhyming over some of the beats that you would hear on the album,” she said. “He would make a certain face when hearing the beat, he would make this frown like ‘I’m feeling this,’ and you would hear his verses in the back. He was really excited about this project.”

The album has earned the New York group endless accolades for its timely spirit of defiance that has proved a beacon of strength in darkly unsettling times. What’s more, the LP has also helped the band score their first No. 1 album in 20 years, snatching the top spot from Bon Jovi.

Phife would have turned 46 on Sunday (November 20) – hear him shine on this rare Tribe freestyle from 1996.

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