# Jarobi White
**Jarobi White** (born 1971) is an American musician and chef, best known as a founding member of the hip-hop group [A Tribe Called Quest](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-tribe-called-quest) and for his second career as an executive chef and restaurant professional.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jarobi-white/463107980) He was one of the original four members alongside Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and [Ali Shaheed Muhammad](https://www.edgepedia.org/ali-shaheed-muhammad), appeared as a host on the group's 1990 debut, and later returned for the group's 2016 final album and its 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/631f31bd3ef6d72bd58c532ed380c031)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971, United States[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jarobi-white/463107980) |
| Role in A Tribe Called Quest | Founding member; host on the 1990 debut *People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm*, with limited recorded verses on the group's middle albums[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) • [4](https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/interview-a-tribe-called-quests-jarobi-talks-1-800-lucky-residency-11539118/) |
| Departure | Left the group at the height of its success to pursue culinary arts; worked as an executive chef and restaurant manager in Washington D.C., South Carolina, and Atlanta[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) |
| evitaN | Formed the duo with Dres of Black Sheep in 2012; released the album *Speed of Life*[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) |
| Return to Tribe | Reunited on *The Tonight Show* in November 2015 and appeared on the 2016 final album *We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service*[5](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) |
| Recognition | VH1 Hip Hop Honors with the group in 2007; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2024[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/631f31bd3ef6d72bd58c532ed380c031) |
## Origins and formation of A Tribe Called Quest
White grew up in New York. The band's official biography places his birth in St. Albans, Queens, where he met future group member [Phife Dawg](https://www.edgepedia.org/phife-dawg) in the early 1980s.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) In his own recollection in a 2005 interview, he was born in the [South Bronx](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-bronx), moved through Co-Op City and Cross Street, and arrived in Queens at about age 12, where Phife lived around the corner; the two bonded over video games and basketball, and Phife introduced him to Q-Tip.[6](https://dayafterdaydc.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/interview-with-jarobi-white/)
The group came together in 1985 among New York natives Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.[7](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F1d%2F1dbef446-8451-4a25-89c8-7cfceb7ef7e9.pdf) In White's telling, he handled the beat-box in the early days, the group played talent shows, and he made his first demo at about 13, roughly six years before the debut album appeared.[6](https://dayafterdaydc.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/interview-with-jarobi-white/) The name A Tribe Called Quest was suggested by their high school acquaintances in the Jungle Brothers while that group recorded *Straight Out the Jungle*; the original name was simply QUEST.[7](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F1d%2F1dbef446-8451-4a25-89c8-7cfceb7ef7e9.pdf) A Tribe Called Quest became part of the [Native Tongues](https://www.edgepedia.org/native-tongues) collective with [De La Soul](https://www.edgepedia.org/de-la-soul) and the Jungle Brothers, an Afrocentric, jazz-inflected wing of late-1980s East Coast hip hop.[8](https://lcweb2.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/The-Low-End-Theory_Amorosi.pdf)
## Role in the group
On the 1990 debut *[People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm](https://www.edgepedia.org/peoples-instinctive-travels-and-the-paths-of-rhythm)*, White acted as the group's host, and he continued to provide inspiration and input across the group's albums.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) His recorded verses on Tribe songs, including Native Tongues posse cuts, are few; a robotic-voice snippet on 1993's *Midnight Marauders* introduced the group as "Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Q-Tip, and Jarobi A E I O U and sometimes Y," a phrase that memorialized his limited involvement on the group's middle records.[4](https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/interview-a-tribe-called-quests-jarobi-talks-1-800-lucky-residency-11539118/) Q-Tip described him as "the spirit of A Tribe Called Quest," a characterization repeated in the 2011 documentary *Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest*, in which White appeared.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/17/still-kicking-it-a-tribe-called-quest) • [2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi)
**Departure.** At the pinnacle of the group's success, White left to pursue his passion for the culinary arts.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) He had worked in restaurants since he was 14 years old and built a career as an experienced chef along the East Coast.[10](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/shawnsetaro/2016/08/04/jarobi-white-rapping-food/) His cooking work took him to Washington D.C., South Carolina, and Atlanta, where he established himself as an executive chef and restaurant manager.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) During the years away from the group he also managed the D.C. rapper Head-Roc for a period.[6](https://dayafterdaydc.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/interview-with-jarobi-white/)
## Return to music and evitaN
In 2012 White returned to New York and formed the duo evitaN (Native spelled backwards) with Dres of Black Sheep, a fellow Native Tongues member.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) • [11](https://www.xxlmag.com/buckshot-sadat-x-pay-tribute-to-a-tribe-called-quest-in-nyc/) The duo released its first album, *Speed of Life*, while White simultaneously held a chef position at a restaurant in the [West Village](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-village) that he helped raise to a Michelin rating.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) He also combined food and music professionally through a food events company called Eats, Rhymes & Life, a play on the group's 1996 album *Beats, Rhymes & Life*.[10](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/shawnsetaro/2016/08/04/jarobi-white-rapping-food/)
**Reunions and the final album.** A Tribe Called Quest, which had disbanded in 1998, reunited for performances in 2006 and 2013, and the four original members appeared together on *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon* in November 2015, their first TV appearance together in nearly two decades.[12](https://time.com/4110598/fallon-a-tribe-called-quest/) • [5](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) That performance led Q-Tip and the other original members to regroup and record *[We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service](https://www.edgepedia.org/we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service)*, announced as the group's final album; Phife Dawg died in March 2016, before the project was finished, and the album was completed with [Busta Rhymes](https://www.edgepedia.org/busta-rhymes) and Consequence.[5](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/) White rapped full verses on the album, the first Tribe record on which he rapped, and he appears in the video for "We the People" alongside Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes.[13](https://time.com/4576382/a-tribe-called-quest-we-the-people-music-video/) • [14](https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/15/music/anderson-paak-is-the-sound-of-2016-77d8141f8255) In a 2016 interview about the album, White recalled that the group was preparing to send Phife a track to rhyme on when news of his death arrived, and that the members resolved to make the album honor him.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/17/still-kicking-it-a-tribe-called-quest)
## Recognition
In 2007 White was honored alongside A Tribe Called Quest at VH1's fourth annual Hip Hop Honors ceremony.[2](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi) In 2024 the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with [Dave Chappelle](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-chappelle) assisting the induction of Q-Tip, Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and the late Phife Dawg, the lone hip-hop group in that year's class.[3](https://apnews.com/article/631f31bd3ef6d72bd58c532ed380c031) The group's 1991 album *The Low End Theory*, on which White is credited as an MC alongside the other three members, was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2022.[8](https://lcweb2.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/The-Low-End-Theory_Amorosi.pdf)
## References
1. [Jarobi White, Apple Music artist page](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jarobi-white/463107980)
2. [Jarobi, A Tribe Called Quest Official Store, Tribe Members](https://atribecalledquest.com/blogs/tribe-members/jarobi)
3. [Rock & Roll Hall of Fame turns up starpower to induct Cher, Foreigner, Mary J. Blige, Ozzy and more, AP News (2024)](https://apnews.com/article/631f31bd3ef6d72bd58c532ed380c031)
4. [Interview: A Tribe Called Quest's Jarobi White Talks 1-800-Lucky Residency, Miami New Times](https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/interview-a-tribe-called-quests-jarobi-talks-1-800-lucky-residency-11539118/)
5. [A Tribe Called Quest Announces Final Album Due in November, Time](https://time.com/4549277/a-tribe-called-quest-final-album/)
6. [Old Interview with Jarobi White, dayafterdaydc (2011)](https://dayafterdaydc.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/interview-with-jarobi-white/)
7. [A Tribe Called Quest press kit, Mongrel Media](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F1d%2F1dbef446-8451-4a25-89c8-7cfceb7ef7e9.pdf)
8. ["The Low End Theory" National Recording Registry essay, Library of Congress](https://lcweb2.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/The-Low-End-Theory_Amorosi.pdf)
9. [A Tribe Called Quest return: 'You fight for what you love', The Guardian (2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/17/still-kicking-it-a-tribe-called-quest)
10. [A Tribe Called Chef: Jarobi White's Move From Rapping To Food, Forbes (2016)](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/shawnsetaro/2016/08/04/jarobi-white-rapping-food/)
11. [Buckshot, Sadat X Pay Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest in NYC, XXL](https://www.xxlmag.com/buckshot-sadat-x-pay-tribute-to-a-tribe-called-quest-in-nyc/)
12. [A Tribe Called Quest Will Reunite for The Tonight Show, Time (2015)](https://time.com/4110598/fallon-a-tribe-called-quest/)
13. [Watch A Tribe Called Quest Pay Tribute to Phife Dawg in the 'We the People' Music Video, Time (2016)](https://time.com/4576382/a-tribe-called-quest-we-the-people-music-video/)
14. [Anderson .Paak Is the Sound of 2016](https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/15/music/anderson-paak-is-the-sound-of-2016-77d8141f8255)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license