During an interview on Shade 45's VIP Saturdays program, Joey Bada$$ revealed that he was on the phone with Q-Tip moments before the news of Phife Dawg's death broke.
“It’s just so crazy the way the universe works,” Joey said. "The night that he passed, I was just on the phone with Q-Tip. Literally, right before it happened I was on the phone with Q-Tip. I called Tip because I was looking for the ‘Check The Rhime’ video because it wasn’t on Youtube. I was tryna use it as a reference for my ‘Brooklyn's Own’ video—the scene when they was on top of the laundromat. I said, ‘Yo, Tip, where the video at?’ He said, ‘Ah, you know, label shit.’ Me and Tip just started building for a little bit and then it was ‘Peace.’ Then right after that, the news [about Phife Dawg's passing] started. I could tell he ain’t even know it had happened yet.”
If there's a silver lining here, it's that Joey and Q-Tip appear to be pretty tight.
Watch Joey's full Shade 45 interview below. He tells the Q-Tip/Phife Dawg story at the 19:30 mark.