The Queens Library is remembering a late rapper from the borough while trying to educate the public about the disease that killed him.
Dozens gathered Tuesday night at the St. Albans Queens Libary Branch to remember Phife Dawg . He grew up just a few blocks away from the library.
The celebration featured local MC's paying tribute to Phife Dawg's group A Tribe Called Quest.
The rapper died last month from complications from diabetes
The library displayed books about the disease to encourage people to stay healthy.
Those attending said the gathering was a way to bring the rapper's memory home to the neighborhood.
"This is it. This is where it all started for them," said the rapper's friend D'Anthony Johnson.
"A lot of time when artists pass away, it's so big and Hollywood but this is really a guy who came up from this community, changed his block, changed the way people thought of getting off of the block," said the Queens Library Hip Hop Coordinator, Ralph McDaniels.
Local lawmakers are also trying to rename a street in St. Albans in Phife Dawg's memory.