Beyond his skills on the mic, A Tribe Called Quest‘s Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor was also a people-connector. While working on the last Tribe album, We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service last year, producer/engineer Starita (born Michael Starita) vibed with the Queens rap collective for “Dis Generation” and grew close to Phife’s manager and best friend, Rasta Root.

Amidst crafting his forthcoming six-track EP (due this fall), Starita asked Root if Jarobi White would rap on his new party record “Rules,” which also features singer/songwriter Trent Park. “I was like, you think Jarobi would be down to drop some bars on this thing? So [Root] connected us and that’s how it all started.” White was immediately pulled in by the up-tempo track’s melodic changes. “It was a departure from what I’m normally doing,” the rapper adds. “I was just hoping I wouldn’t mess it up. I just wanted to add my personality, a little New York street feel. I hope I accomplished that.”

Read the full interview here…