Tariq Trotter

Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded as "one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time",Black Thought – Biography
AllMusic. Accessed on August 28, 2020.Interview of Jamal Greene, brother of Talib Kweli
Conversation with Tyler. Accessed on June 2nd 2022. he is widely lauded for his live performance skills, continuous multisyllabic rhyme schemes, complex lyricism, double entendres, and politically aware lyrics. With the Roots, he is a singer and rapper on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,'' frequently playing games with Fallon and his guests.

Early life

Black Thought was born Tarik Luqmaan Trotter, to Thomas and Cassandra Trotter, both members of the Nation of Islam. His father was murdered when Trotter was one year old, and his mother was murdered when he was in high school. He spent time tagging "DT" or "Double T" with graffiti around Philadelphia. He sold crack cocaine briefly, and was sent to live with family in Detroit for a few months in high school. Trotter attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and Millersville University, studying journalism. In 1987, he became friends with drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and formed a drummer/MC duo, performing on the streets of Philadelphia and at talent shows. Trotter subsequently spent some time as one of two MCs in the group the Square Roots; the other was Malik B., whom Tariq met in college. In high school, Black Thought became interested in the lessons of the Nation of Gods and Earths.

The Roots

The Square Roots renamed themselves the Roots and released their debut album '' Organix'' in 1993. The Roots signed to DGC and followed up with '' Do You Want More?!!!??!'' in 1995. Recorded without any sampling, the album was more popular among alternative music fans than those of hip hop. Around the release of the album, the Roots performed at the Lollapalooza alternative music festival and Montreux Jazz Festival. '' Illadelph Halflife'', the band's 1996 album, became its first to chart within the top 40 spots on the ''Billboard'' 200 because of the successful single "What They Do". '' Things Fall Apart'' followed in 1999, the year the band played at the Woodstock 99 concert.

In 2000, the Roots won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "You Got Me", with guest performances by Erykah Badu and Eve. ''Things Fall Apart'' was nominated for Best Rap Album. For Jay-Z's acoustic concert for the television program '' MTV Unplugged'', the Roots provided instrumentals. Succeeding albums were ''Phrenology'' (2002), '' The Tipping Point'' (2004), ''Game Theory'' (2006), '' Rising Down'' (2008), '' How I Got Over'' (2010), '' Undun'' (2011), and ''…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin'' (2014).

Other work

Black Thought starred in films such as '' Bamboozled'' (2000), and the 2001 films '' Perfume'', ''Love Rome'', and '' Brooklyn Babylon''.

Black Thought's numerous musical guest performances include "Pimpas Paradise", by Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley; "Hard Hitters", by Dilated Peoples; "Stolen Moments Part 2", by Common; "X-Ecutioner Style", by Linkin Park; "My Favorite Mutiny", by the Coup; "Right Now", by Fort Minor; and "Rafiki", by Zap Mama.

Black Thought recorded a solo album, to be titled ''Masterpiece Theatre'' and released in 2001, but the project was scrapped after he learned that the album would not count toward the Roots' contractual commitments. Most of the songs from the project appeared on ''Phrenology''.

In 2006, he began working on a collaborative project with producer Danger Mouse, titled ''Dangerous Thoughts''. As of February 2021, the album had not been released. In May 2022, it was announced that the album would be called ''Cheat Codes'' and would be released on August 10.

In a June 2008 interview with Brian Kayser of the website HipHopGame, Black Thought spoke of another solo project that was scheduled for release on the Razor and Tie music corporation. He said that Questlove might work on production. As of September 2014, neither Black Thought nor the solo album are listed on the Razor & Tie website.

In February 2011, Black Thought, along with 10.Deep and the "Money Making Jam Boys" collective—the latter of which includes Dice Raw, S.T.S., Truck North and P.O.R.N.—released the mixtape ''The Prestige''.

Together with U.K. artist Lotek, Black Thought appeared on the song "Living in Bunkers", by Australian hip hop group Hilltop Hoods, which was released on the ''Drinking From the Sun'' album in March 2012. Also in March 2012, Black Thought performed with Nneka and Clef nite at BET 106 and Park. They performed the song "God Knows Why", from the former's album ''Soul Is Heavy'', which they collaborated on.

In early 2013, Black Thought confirmed his continuing work, with Jim James and Tunde Adebimpe, on a solo album entitled ''Talented Mr. Trotter''. At this time, he began work on a memoir with journalist and music critic Jeff Chang and filmmaker Maori Karmael.

As of April 2015, Black Thought has yet to release a solo album, but when asked about the long-awaited project by a fan on Twitter, he said he's "working on it". He did not offer further details.

In February 2016, Black Thought joined forces with Fashawn, Murs, and Del the Funky Homosapien to record a new track called "Rise Up" for the video game Street Fighter V. A video for the song was released by Capcom, and includes appearances by Black Thought and his fellow collaborators.

In December 2017, Black Thought appeared on HOT 97 with Funkmaster Flex and performed a 10-minute freestyle over "The Learning (Burn)" instrumental by Mobb Deep. This freestyle went widely viral, trending on Twitter for the next days and hitting millions of views on YouTube. ''Streams of Thought, Vol. 1'', a collaborative EP with producer 9th Wonder, was released on June 1, 2018. ''Streams of Thought, Vol. 2'', a collaboration with producer Salaam Remi, was released on November 26, 2018. Black Thought also had a feature on the track ''Crowns for Kings'' in Benny the Butcher's 2019 EP ''The Plugs I Met''.

On August 28, 2020, Black Thought released the single "Good Morning" featuring Pusha T, Swizz Beatz and Killer Mike. It was included on '' Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able'', which includes 13 tracks and collaborations with Portugal. The Man, Schoolboy Q and the Last Artful, Dodgr. He also did a feature on Eminem's song "Yah Yah" from '' Music to Be Murdered By'' album earlier that year.

Black Thought made his theatrical debut in January 2022, playing Dr. Junius Crookman in ''Black No More'', a musical for which he also wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music.

In May 2022, musician and producer Danger Mouse and Black Thought announced their upcoming collaborative studio album called '' Cheat Codes'', due to release on August 12, 2022. The same day, they released the album's first single called ''No Gold Teeth''. The album's track list, posted on the duo's newly-created Instagram page, lists multiple featured guests, such as Raekwon, Kid Sister, Joey Badass, Russ, Dylan Cartlidge, late MF Doom (appearing posthumously), Michael Kiwanuka, ASAP Rocky, Run the Jewels, and Conway the Machine. Some of these artists have already worked with Danger Mouse and/or Black Thought in the past, most notably MF Doom, who teamed up with Danger Mouse to form Danger Doom in 2003. They released an album in 2005 and an additional EP in 2006, the reissue of which features a previously unreleased bonus track with a guest appearance by Black Thought. Furthermore, Danger Mouse majorly contributed to and partly produced Kiwanuka's second and third album, '' Love & Hate'' (2016) and ''Kiwanuka'' (2019).

Legacy

Black Thought is "widely recognized as one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time", according to AllMusic critic Andy Kellman. Henry Adaso of About.com praises him as "a surgeon of emceeing", and he is highly regarded for his multisyllabic rhymes, internal rhymes, flow, breath control, socially conscious lyrics, and live performances. Questlove stated that Black Thought's clarity and logic also distinguishes him from other emcees, and Stephen Kearse of '' Pitchfork'' notes that his "ability to use words as textures as much as tools has always been a hallmark of his style". In the book '' How to Rap'', emcee Kool G Rap described seeing the Roots perform his song "Men at Work" at a show; "I never really liked to perform it that much—because your breath control gotta be crazy. But somebody sent me a clip of the Roots ... and lack Thoughtdid all three fucking verses and I couldn't believe it—he killed that shit".Edwards (2009), p. 290. Black Thought has influenced several hip hop artists, including Logic, Joey Badass, Rapsody, k-os, and Shad

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