Over the weekend, the Foot Locker in Times Square turned into the Q Club in Queens. A DJ spun A Tribe Called Quest’s “Award Tour” and had the entire room vibrating, and while Jarobi laughed and took pictures with some fans, Consequence, seated next to his son Caiden, got on the mic. As Cons stood up and a crowd gathered around a table where he and Jarobi had been signing sneakers, boxes and various Tribe paraphernalia, Caiden got on top of the table. At the encouragement of his dad, little C spit lyrics made famous by his older cousin Q-Tip.
“Can I kick it?” the five-year-old asked. “Yes, you can,” the crowd responds. “Well I’m gone,” he replied back.
When ATCQ dropped their universally acclaimed final LP We Got It From Here… Thank Your 4 Your Service in 2016, the group didn’t just come with music. They had an arsenal of merchandise that flew out of their pop-up shops across the country, being consumed rapidly by fans. Earlier this year, Consequence dropped by REVOLT to talk about the new Tribe line inspired by some of their iconic artwork, as well as children’s line called “Kid Questers” that his son Caiden was modeling for. And less than two weeks ago, Tribe announced a partnership with Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club in which the tandem dropped limited edition varsity jackets, as well as hoodies and other apparel.
Earlier this month, you guessed it, Tribe were celebrating another deal. This one finds the legendary collective teaming with Vans for footwear.
“We’re just thankful, all these years later, to be able to do this,” Jarobi said. “We got the collaboration with BBC, we got the Vans. We do all of this stuff so the old fans and the new fans can come together with some new product. And we do all of these things, of course, to represent my man Phife Dawg in his honor. To keep the Phife Dawg spirit alive.”
Jarobi then showed off his white-and-black kicks with some of Phife’s most beloved lyrics serving as the print on them. Later, after Caiden put down the mic, his pops showed him that the big dog won’t ask the pup do anything he wouldn’t do. So the DJ threw on Tribe’s “Mobius” and Cons ripped his part from the record: “I break bread, ribs, hundred dollar bills / Dream about Bugattis and other four-wheels / They say Illuminati and other ordeals / Is how my lawyer got me to avoid a raw deal…”
“‘The new on the run, except we father and son,’” Cons said with a smile in the aftermath, proud as can be of his little man.
“We come from Queens, but not limiting it to one borough. We come from New York where you’ve had Karl Kani and Fubu and April Walker so forth and so on,” Cons said of joining the lineage of great fashion entrepreneurs. “We grew up on Cross Colors and variety with the Hilfiger and Nauticas. Being on Jamaica Ave. and running up in S&Ds trying to get that Iceberg. I want to carry on that tradition. There’s no harvest without flipping the soil, so definitely had my hands in the dirt. We all had our hands in the dirt, we all rotating shifts over at Tribe just to make sure the brand is looking right. Shout-out to Foot Locker for having us, shout-out to Vans for walking out this collabo. Everybody plays a part. Collaboration can’t be done on a solo mission. I’m happy.”
The Tribe also just released what is being called their very last music video, for the song “Space Program.”
“The very last,” Jarobi said. “Perfect song and video for the times we’re living in. A little allegory; if you peep the lyrics, you’ll figure it out. Warren Fu, a great director. A great time to do it in the Calabasas desert, baby.”
While enjoying the spoils of their own catalog, Cons and Jarobi also gave kudos to Cardi B. They were excited to see their fellow New Yorker thrive with the release of her debut Invasion of Privacy.
“Already gold,” Jarobi beamed of her monster sales. “Well, I am a Cardi B enthusiast. I’m very happy for her. I’m happy for her presence in hip-hop. I’m happy for the female presence in rap. That’s good. Keeping balance. For her to rip off 500,000 [sales] [in] 24 hours, is amazing. It goes to show you [that] her personality and everything is appealing and she’s doing her business. Congratulations. That’s love.”
“That ‘Bodak Yellow,’ it’s a good time,” Cons said. “I know there’s been a lot of critique about [album] streams, but it definitely helps on that accolade side. It helps being [that] it debuted 24 hours [ago] and have it show that gold. Shout to Cardi, Shaft, QC, everybody that was involved in that.”