Amongst those paying homage was DJ Chuck Chillout, who shared a picture of the late rapper on Twitter.
Along with the image, he wrote: "RIP to phife dog of tribe called quest."
Born in 1970, Phife founded A Tribe Called Quest will classmates Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad in 1985.
The hip hop group went on to produce several legendary tracks, including Bonita Applebum and I Left My Wallet In El Segundo.
Their biggest hit came when they released Can I Kick It? in 1991.
After the group split up, they went on to reform on several occasions but never released new material.
Their last performance came when they performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in November.
