Born on this date in 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Tariq Luqmaan Trotter, Black Thought, the lead emcee of the legendary Hip Hop band The Roots, has created his key to success with simply one word; longevity.
Thought has always been regarded as one of the most lyrical post-Golden Era emcees, yet received very little recognition for his prowess outside of his work with the entire Roots band, which is now a staple of ‘The Tonight Show.’ This summer’s Streams Of Thought: Vol. 1 just further proves his “staying power” in any circles where rhymes are being spit.
Growing up in a Nation Of Islam household, Trotter’s family life was very cultured, leading him to seek knowledge among the Five Percent Nation in high school. There is where he met The Roots’ co-founder Amhir Thompson, whom they originally named the group The Square Roots.
Throughout the two-decade span of his illustrious career since The Roots debut in 1993, Thought has earned a Grammy win, appeared in two blockbuster films(Bamboozled, Brooklyn Babylon), and appeared on several groundbreaking albums.
On this day, The Source Magazine would like to salute Mr. Trotter on his Birthday, wishing him an enjoyable day and many more to come!
Questlove recently spoke with Common and Pete Rock on his Questlove Supreme podcast, and the conversation yielded something The Roots fans have been waiting for since the group’s latest album, 2014’s …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin: News of a new album.
During the episode, Questlove said of the upcoming project, “I know the exact date I want to release it, and it’s not 2024, but it’s a seminal 2025 date that will make sense once it comes out.”
Worth noting is that 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of The Roots’ Do You Want More?!!!??! (which was released on January 17, 1995), as well as the 15th anniversaries of How I Got Over (June 22, 2010) and the collaborative John Legend album Wake Up! (September 21, 2010).
Quest also spoke about how Common and Pete Rock’s 2024 joint album The Auditorium Vol. 1 has inspired him and Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) to finish their upcoming album. He said:
“I will say that it’s made Tariq into… the motherf*cker wrote seven songs in one day! We have not done that since our second album. […] I was like, ‘Yo, dog. You ain’t going to believe this, but Rash [Common] and Pete made the perfect summit meeting record. No person’s outshining the other person.’ […] I was just going off about it and I could tell I planted a seed. But then, I think after the Hollywood Bowl performance that we did, […] I think that lit something under Tariq.
I mean, I can say in the last two weeks, he’s knocked off at least 80 percent. […] I mean, back in Do You Want More?!!!??! days, ‘Riq would write, like, six or seven songs in a setting. This album is definitely […] it’s probably what he’s working on right now as I speak. It’s inspiring.”
This past Saturday, The Roots brought the best parts of their annual festival, Roots Picnic, to the Hollywood Bowl for a special concert, Love Of My Life. Named after a song from the Philadelphia band’s 1999 fourth studio album Things Fall Apart (which was itself inspired by Common’s metaphorical 1994 storytelling track “I Used to Love H.E.R.”), the concert was dedicated to celebrating the group’s 30-year love affair with this thing called hip-hop. To that end, they recruited a slew of guests from the genre’s Golden Era to join them onstage to perform some of their greatest hits.
Arrested Development, Black Sheep, Common, Digable Planets, The Pharcyde, and Queen Latifah were all billed as performers, but throughout the evening, surprise guests ranging from Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am to an all-star roster of pioneer women in rap, including The Lady Of Rage, MC Lyte, Monie Love, and Yo-Yo, all joined The Roots on the legendary stage. And, as befits any live performance played the Philadelphian ensemble (the most recent of which I have to compare it to was their New Year’s Eve show at the Wiltern in LA just seven months ago), those hits were reinterpreted, remixed, and transformed by the addition of the live band.
When the crew launched Roots Picnic back in 2008, I felt so left out, living on the West Coast. While endless sunshine and pretty people never really gets stale, it did feel a bit like I was missing out on all the best bits of culture taking place in the northeast. As social media became more commonplace, allowed more footage from the festival to enter the public consciousness, that feeling was only intensified. For someone who counts The Roots among his most formative acts, watching Black Thought freestyle for 15 minutes on a phone screen was as exciting as it was disheartening that I couldn’t see it live.
On Saturday, I did. It was glorious. I’ve seen LeBron James play basketball in person in a high school gym in the hood (another of those perks of growing up in LA). I got the same, transformative feeling watching Tariq Trotter, a master of his craft in the same respect, do things very few other earthly powers have ever been able to come close to reproducing. When Common came out to perform “I Used To Love H.E.R.,” to see nearly 17,500 other people rap EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. was akin to a spiritual experience.
The biggest pops, though, were reserved for Queen Latifah and the cadre of hip-hop sistren who joined her for a mini-set that proved that women have always run hip-hop — and always should. Not expecting Lyte, Rage, or Yo-Yo to put in appearances, I was genuinely surprised by the surprise guest appearances. And I was awed. These women, all well into their 50s, hit every bar. The mics were ON. I get why younger artists often look like deer in the headlights at these festivals, but I’m going to recommend that you festival organizers start sending out media packages for study with the booking contracts. This is what it’s supposed to look like.
The night ended, somewhat fascinatingly, with a singalong of Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours.” It was a high point, but there were so many singalong moments that could have been the finale: Thought and Com running through the title track of the evening. Arrested Development crooning “People Everyday,” Will sitting in with Pharcyde for a rendition of “Passin’ Me By,” or the Jungle Brothers popping out to perform the Native Tongues posse cut “Buddy” with more than a few of the original artists in attendance.
The best part of the show was the best part of the Roots Picnic as an event. Getting to see all these pillars of hip-hop together, not just on the same stage performing their own sets, but as a group, playing off each other, enjoying each other’s company and vibing together. That’s the one-of-a-kind experience that makes Roots Picnic one of the premiere festivals throughout the year. Even getting to sample it at an iconic venue like Hollywood Bowl? You can’t beat that with a bat.
Black Thought is as respected as a rapper can get. The frontman of The Roots is regularly cited as one of the dynamic lyricists of all time, so anybody who plans to keep up with him better be nice. J Cole thought he was up to the challenge. Black Thought recently appeared on This Week In White Supremacy Podcast (bold name, we know) to reveal that Cole approached him about doing a collab album. The rapper admits he considered the idea. Ultimately, though, the collab album never came together.
Black Thought was asked about the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle that’s taken the music world by storm. What rapper hasn’t been, right? The host pointed out that nobody has ever dared beef with Black Thought, and the rapper confirmed this theory. He was then asked about J. Cole’s decision to apologize to K. Dot following the release of his diss. He didn’t pick team Drake or Lamar, but he commended Cole for his actions. He described the apology as “beautiful,” and felt like it showed “humility and nobility” on J. Cole’s part. “When the plane’s going down,” he asserted. “You gotta situation your own oxygen mask first.”
Black Thought reacts to J. Cole apologizing to Kendrick Lamar after dropping the ‘7 Minute Drill’ diss song and reveals he scared off J. Cole when J. Cole wanted to do a joint album with him because he wanted J. Cole to send more aggressive beats.
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) May 10, 2024
Black Thought’s high opinion on Cole led to him dropping a bombshell about their previous encounter. He told the host that the Dreamville rapper approached him for a full-length project a few years back. Thought was into the idea. “He and I had talked about doing music together,” The Roots rapper noted. “Beginning of 2018, he hit me like, ‘Yo, let’s do an album.’ I told him to send me some music. It was like let me see what you’re thinking.” Black Thought ultimately felt like Cole wanted to make something that was identical to what he was already doing with The Roots.
“He sent me a batch of beats and they all just felt so close to something Roots-centric,” Thought noted. “At the time, I was trying to sort of step outside of what I’d done in The Roots and I just didn’t feel like we were lining up.” Thought theorizes that he scared Cole off when he messaged him back and asked for a different batch of instrumentals. “I think I scared him off,” he explained. “Maybe like some of the trigger words I was using, ‘I want something hard.’” Thought and J. Cole have yet to officially collaborate, but hopefully they get lined up at some point in the future.
On May 5th, 1998 Rawkus Records released the first installment of the Lyricist Lounge albums titled Lyricist Lounge, Volume One, which showcased New York. It was a double-disc compilation that featured De La Soul, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Tash of Tha Alkaholiks, Punch & Words, O.C, Ras Kass, Black Thought, Common, Pharoahe Monch, Saul Williams, Kool Keith, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek, Bahamadia, Rah Digga, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Jurassic 5, KRS-One, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, Last Emperor, and Company Flow.
This CD is one of those that you don’t get often. It had incredible and intensely clever wordplay, and was great for the culture because of the positive support it showed for hip hop. Back then everyone thought hip-hop was rap music and rap music was gangsta. It made people think twice before making an assumption like that. Any hip-hop purist who enjoys freestyles and great rhymes that make you think then this is the album for you.
The last time Madlib collaborated with Black Thought was four years ago, on the producer’s joint album with Freddie Gibbs, Bandana. “Education” gave listeners a glimpse of what a team-up between such a dynamic duo could bring, although it was mostly Gibbs’ show and Yasiin Bey came along for the ride.
Today, though, Black Thought secures a Madlib joint of his very own in “REEKYOD,” a portmanteau of his first name Tariq, and the initials of their collaborator on the new single, Your Old Droog. It’s a surprisingly low-key affair, with Madlib providing a muted, shuffling beat and Thought doing what he does best. Droog provides a more energetic counterpoint to Thought’s laid-back flow, hanging with one of rap’s premiere lyricists. If this doesn’t get you hype for a potential Madlib-Black Thought project, absolutely nothing will.
Such a project isn’t out of the realm of possibility, either. Black Thought has spent much of the past few years stepping out of his role as The Roots’ frontman, putting out a steady stream of projects with singular producers. Since 2020, he’s released albums primarily produced by Sean C (Streams Of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able), Danger Mouse (Cheat Codes), and El Michels Affair (2023’s Glorious Game). So, a Madlib project wouldn’t go amiss (if you guys are reading this… you know what to do). The press release for “REEKYOD” doesn’t specifically mention what else Madlib’s working on these days, but if he’s got the time, rap fans would almost certainly like to see it.
Renowned producer Madlib unveils his latest single, “REEKYOD,” featuring the lyrical talents of Black Thought and Your Old Droog. Making its debut on Madlib’s newly minted label, Madlib Invazion, the track showcases the iconic artist’s innovative approach to hip-hop.
Teaming up with acclaimed artist Mathieu Bitton for the single’s artwork, Madlib presents “REEKYOD” as more than just a song; it’s a testament to artistic independence and musical brilliance. The collaboration celebrates the essence of hip-hop, highlighting real rhymes, captivating beats, and the profound connection between emcee and producer.
“This is strictly for the honorees. Madlib is in his bag per usual and YOD is more than a force to be reckoned with. Simply complex, this piece is high art. Triple threat. Instant classique,” says Black Thought.
“It’s an honor to be inducted into the heavyweight class of hip hop,” Droog shares. “To be able to spar with one of the greatest MC’s on a beat by the greatest producer is a dream come true. Look out for the Madlib x YOD album coming soon.”
“REEKYOD” not only delivers an unforgettable listening experience but also serves as a declaration of artistic freedom, reaffirming Madlib’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre. With Black Thought and Your Old Droog adding their distinct styles to the mix, the single stands as a tribute to hip-hop’s enduring legacy and the enduring creativity of its artists.
Black Thought is acclaimed for his lyrical depth and powerful performances as the frontman of The Roots. The rapper has carved a niche for himself in the annals of hip-hop history. As of 2024, his diversified career in music, acting, and philanthropy has amassed a net worth of $5 million, according to Allfamousbirthday. His journey from the streets of Philadelphia to becoming an influential figure in the music industry and beyond is a testament to his talent, dedication, and impact on culture and social activism.
Masterful Lyrical Craftsmanship
NEW YORK, NY – July 20: ( MANDATORY CREDIT Bill Tompkins/Getty Images ). The Roots perform on July 20th, 1996 in New York City. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)
Black Thought, born Tariq Trotter, has been instrumental in shaping the sound and direction of The Roots. They are a band that seamlessly blends live instrumentation with hip-hop to create a unique and influential sound. Known for his intricate lyricism and impeccable flow, Black Thought’s ability to articulate the complexities of the human experience has earned him critical acclaim. Albums like Things Fall Apart and Phrenology not only showcase the band’s musical versatility but also highlight Black Thought’s skill in weaving narratives that resonate with listeners on a profound level.
Expanding Horizons
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 14: Tariq Trotter “Black Thought” speaks in conversation with. Jon Stewart for the book launch of “The Upcycled Self” at Brooklyn Academy of. Music also on November 14, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Manny Carabel/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music)
Beyond his accomplishments with The Roots, Black Thought has ventured into solo projects and collaboration. They further showcase his versatility as an artist. His Streams of Thought series, for instance, allows him to explore different lyrical themes and sonic landscapes. It also cemented his reputation as one of hip-hop’s most formidable talents. These projects, coupled with his work in acting and voice-over roles, reflect his multifaceted career and ability to connect with audiences across different mediums.
Influence & Advocacy
LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 26: Black Thought, Questlove, Kamal Gray. Frank “Knuckles” Walker, Damon “Tuba Gooding Jr.”, Bryson, James Poyser and. Mark Kelley The Roots also attend the 2016 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
Black Thought’s impact extends far beyond the music industry. He is also recognized for his activism and philanthropic efforts. Through initiatives with The Roots’ GrassROOTS Community Foundation and other endeavors, he has dedicated himself to addressing social issues and empowering underserved communities. His advocacy for education, health, and social justice underscores his commitment to leveraging his platform for positive change, making him a respected figure in both the entertainment industry and activism circles.
A Legacy Of Innovation & Activism
Overall, the legacy of Black Thought is characterized by his contributions to the evolution of hip-hop, his commitment to social activism, and his ability to transcend artistic boundaries. With a net worth reflecting his success in various endeavors, Black Thought stands as a testament to the power of art to inspire, challenge, and make a meaningful impact. His journey from Philadelphia to global recognition exemplifies how talent, when coupled with purpose, can leave an indelible mark on culture and society.
On this date in 1995, Black Thought, Questlove, Dice Raw, Rahzel and the original Roots crew dropped the Philly Hip Hop collective’s second LP Do You Want More?!!!??! on DGC Records. Recognized as a classic fusion of Hip Hop and jazz, Do You Want More?!!!??! was the first major full-length debut from the Philly-based group.
Produced primarily by The Grand Negaz and Questlove, the singles the led the album was the catchy “You Ain’t Fly”, “The Lesson Part 1”, which introduced Black Thought’s lyrical protegé, the one, and only Dice Raw.
Commercially, the album didn’t do the number doing its era, however, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA more than two decades after the year of its release(2015).
Salute to Mr. Tariq Trotter, Questlove, the beatbox extraordinaire Rahzel, Dice Raw and the entire Roots crew for this.
This Week In White… 
