Consequence is beaming — you can feel it through the phone. It’s the 25th anniversary of A Tribe Called Quest‘s Midnight Marauders, an album changed rap, and his life. “It’s a very important album for myself, being as though it was my first official transition into the music business, because I did the B-Side of the ‘Award Tour’ single, ‘The Chase, Pt. 2,’” he describes. “I was only like 16. It’s very dear to me.” At the time, he had no idea what stepping into that booth would end up becoming.
“I know what it felt like when Tip brought me to the studio and I heard ‘Award Tour’ come on,” he said. “I was just like, ‘What the? How did you do this shit?’”
For the last year, Consequence been working as the President and Creative Director of ACTQ LLC, apparel and merchandising. Spearheading A Tribe Called Quest collaborations with Billionaires Boys Club and Vans and designing his own capsule collection has been a passion project, one where he was meticulous every step of the way. He’s still in disbelief, as a former high school kid who was ecstatic to hear himself on the radio for the first time as he was ushered into Tribe’s world.
“I’m from Queens; I’m from West Boulevard. Being from that hood there was so many psychological check points that I could [not] have imagined 25 years later,” he says.
“I might get shot at. I might go to jail. I had no clue that 25 years [later] that I would be manufacturing clothes for A Tribe Called Quest.
“I think it’s really important when you are a participant in hip-hop never to lose that. Never to lose those memories. Never to lose that feeling.”
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