Shawn Setaro
[Jarobi White of A Tribe Called Quest, who is also a successful and accomplished chef, recently sat down with hip-hop personality and SOHH correspondent Shawn Setaro on his popular “The Cipher” podcast. Listen to the full interview and check out five gems he dropped during the Q&A.]
On the workflow of A Tribe Called Quest:
“Everybody was involved in every aspect of the music, and that’s why it says, ‘Written and produced by A Tribe Called Quest.’ That’s why it’s never singled out.”
On why he’s not on ‘Low End Theory’:
“I started concentrating on culinary school, so we knew that I was probably not going to be able to support [the album]. Number two, I was really young, and I wasn’t emotionally ready to deal with all those things. That was another reason to make me take a backseat.”
On first meeting Tupac:
“When I first met Pac, he didn’t say “nigga.” He didn’t say “bitch.” He was ultra black power, Panthered out. He was still a thug, though. That was always one consistent thing.”
On ATCQ’s breakup in 1998:
“We started rapping when we were really young – like, 12-ish. So to be honest with you, we didn’t really think that we would be doing this past 25, 26, because there was no point of reference. It was time to go. Nobody didn’t want to admit it at the time, but it was time to go. The separation had caused the quality of music to not be the same. What made us Tribe wasn’t Tribe anymore.”
On working for famed chef Josh “Shorty” Eden:
“I was just a guy who could make things taste really good. He refined how I worked. He helped me tap into all of these things about myself and my talent that I really did not know about. He helped me really refine my game, and I got the experience of being a real New York chef.”
