Tate was born in Chicago, to Peggy and Larry Tate.[3] He is the youngest of three siblings; his two brothers, Larron and Lahmard, are also actors.[4][5] The family moved to California during the early 1980s.[6] Convinced by their parents to enter a drama program at the Inner City Cultural Center, the trio did not take the lessons seriously until classmate Malcolm-Jamal Warner's ascent to fame after being cast on the sitcom The Cosby Show. Subsequently, realizing that they could parlay their efforts into a tangible form of success, the siblings began to receive small roles and in 1985, Tate made his small-screen debut in an episode of The New Twilight Zone.[7] Tate attended Palmdale High School, graduating in 1993.[8]
After numerous acting roles on television, collaborative filmmaking siblings Albert and Allen Hughes approached him to star in their debut feature Menace II Society in 1993. In the film, Tate portrayed "O-Dog", a trigger-happy teenager.[12] Frederick I. Douglass of the Baltimore Black-American opined Tate's performance in the film made it an instant classic.[13] Tate had a regular role on the short-lived television series South Central (1994) as Andre.[14]
Tate acted in The Inkwell (1994) as Drew. One reviewer praised his performance and called Tate a "promising" actor.[15] However, in negative reviews Tate was seen as "overacting"[16] and compared unfavorably to Jim Carrey.[17] In 1995, Tate portrayed Vietnam veteran Anthony Curtis in the Hughes brothers' Dead Presidents.[18] A film reviewer stated Tate proved he could play sympathetic characters with his performance in the film.[19]
He took on the role of love-stricken young poet Darius in Love Jones (1997).[4] Critic Jay Carr found Tate "engaging" in the role.[20] Tate also played Kenny in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode "That's No Lady, That's My Cousin",[21] which was produced by Quincy Jones who Tate would later portray in the 2004 film Ray.[22]
Throughout the 2000s, Tate continued his film career. Tate portrayed Vin Diesel's drug officer partner in A Man Apart (2003),[26] with his other film work including Biker Boyz (2003),[27]Crash (2004),[28] and Waist Deep (2006).[29] Tate was featured in R&B singer Ashanti's 2003 released music video Rain on Me, where he played the jealous, abusive spouse of Ashanti. The video touched on the subject of domestic abuse. In the video game 187 Ride or Die, Tate voices the main character, Buck.