Known neither as a spotlight-grabbing solo artist nor as the figurehead of
the Roots,
Black Thought is nonetheless widely recognized as one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time, dating back to the '90s with Organix (1993), his group's recorded debut. Despite
Thought's anchoring of a dozen studio albums with
the Roots, including the Top Ten, Grammy-nominated releases
Things Fall Apart (1999),
Game Theory (2006), and
How I Got Over (2010), anticipation for a solo album has been high since the rapper scrapped an early-2000s project for
MCA.
Thought has mitigated the void with the short-form
Streams of Thought trilogy (2018-2020).
Tariq Luqmaan Trotter grew up in the Mount Airy and Point Breeze neighborhoods of Philadelphia. His childhood was marked by turmoil and tragedy. Before his first birthday, his father was killed. At the age of six, he accidentally set his house on fire. As he later immersed himself in hip-hop culture and graphic art, he was arrested for tagging (spray-painting) a basketball court. While in high school, he dealt crack cocaine, and was eventually prompted by an uncle to escape the Philly streets by living temporarily in Detroit with other family members. Shortly after he returned to his hometown, his mother, who had struggled with crack addition, was fatally stabbed.
Trotter further developed his interest in art at Philadelphia's High School for Creative & Performing Arts, where he met drummer
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. This connection eventually enabled
Trotter to redirect the pain and anger of his upbringing into rap music.
The alliance of
Trotter and
Thompson, forged in 1987, developed into a rap unit that, after numerous developments and name changes, settled into
the Roots. The band made their independent recorded debut with Organix (1993) and shortly thereafter signed with major-label DGC, releasing the RIAA gold-certified
Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995) and second consecutive Billboard Top Ten R&B/hip-hop album
Illadelph Halflife (1996). The latter featured the Top 40 hit "What They Do," thereby making
Trotter -- then known more commonly as
Black Thought -- one of the least materialistic rappers to cross over. In the process,
Thought had attained major hip-hop clout, epitomized not only by his inclusion in the cover photo of XXL magazine's "Greatest Day in Hip-Hop History" issue (October 1998), but also by the recognition he received at the shoot from
Rakim, one of his primary inspirations.
Moved from DGC to
MCA and primed for long-term mainstream presence,
the Roots had their greatest success with
Things Fall Apart (1999), which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, eventually went platinum, and was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Album. Its biggest single, the
Erykah Badu collaboration "You Got Me," won the award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Phrenology (2002) and
The Tipping Point (2004) followed on
MCA and Geffen, respectively, with the former set another gold-seller, also nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy.
The Roots then initiated their longest label affiliation with
Def Jam, an era that has entailed artistically uncompromised and Grammy-nominated works such as
Game Theory (2006),
How I Got Over (2011), and
Undun (2013). Meanwhile,
the Roots became the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and recorded albums with
John Legend,
Betty Wright, and
Elvis Costello, though
Thought was involved with only the first in the series,
Wake Up! (2010), which won a Grammy for Best R&B Album.
Black Thought has been a featured artist on dozens of tracks since the start of
the Roots' ascent, including titles by contemporaries such as
Common,
Pharoahe Monch,
Ghostface Killah,
Talib Kweli, and
J Dilla. As a headliner, his output has been minimal. In 1998, he and producer
J. Tacuma, better known as jazz bassist
Jamaaladeen Tacuma, teamed up for a pair of 12" releases on Japan's P-Vine label. A couple years later, there was "Hardware," a 12" on
MCA proclaimed as "the first joint from the debut solo album Masterpiece Theater." That project was shelved, though some of its material was used for
the Roots'
Phrenology.
The next solo release from
Thought didn't arrive until 2018, on the heels of a mind-boggling ten-minute freestyle for
Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show.
Streams of Thought, Vol. 1, a five-track digital EP with production from
9th Wonder (four tracks) and
Khrysis (one track), was issued that June. By then,
Thought had also established himself as an actor, and had added to his list of credits with a recurring role in the dramatic television series The Deuce. That November,
Thought issued
Streams of Thought, Vol. 2, produced entirely by
Salaam Remi. He then worked with
Sean C to make
Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able, issued in October 2020. The set featured "Good Morning" with
Pusha T and
Killer Mike as guest MCs and
Swizz Beatz as hype man. ~ Andy Kellman