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Black Thought
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Tariq Trotter, better known as Black Thought, is an American hip-hop artist who is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots and occasional actor. Thought, who co-founded The Roots with drummer
Questlove (Ahmir Thompson), is widely lauded for his complex and politically aware lyrical content, and his sharply honed live performances.
k Thought was born Tariq Trotter and attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and Millersville University.
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Encyclopedia
Tariq Trotter, better known as Black Thought, is an American hip-hop artist who is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots and occasional actor. Thought, who co-founded The Roots with drummer
Questlove (Ahmir Thompson), is widely lauded for his complex and politically aware lyrical content, and his sharply honed live performances.
Early life
Black Thought was born Tariq Trotter and attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and Millersville University. In 1987, Trotter became friends with drummer Amir "Questlove" Thompson and formed a drummer/MC duo performing on the streets of Philadelphia and at talent shows. Trotter would subsequently spend some time as one of two MCs in the group The Square Roots: the other one was Malik B., who Tariq met in college.
Career
The Roots
The Square Roots renamed to the Roots and released its debut album Organix in 1993, to prepare for a concert in Germany. 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 album 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 Jill Scott and Eve. The Roots' album Things Fall Apart was nominated for the Best Rap Album award. 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), and Rising Down (2008).
Black Thought considers his albums to be "introspective" and "all about" himself, a statement he made in a 2007 interview with ThaFormula.com about his absence of solo albums.
Other work
Films in which Black Thought starred in include Bamboozled (2000), Perfume, and Brooklyn Babylon (both 2001).
Thought also made guest performances several other records like Team by Dilated Peoples, One Day It'll All Make Sense by Common, Reanimation by Linkin Park, and The Rising Tied by Fort Minor.
Black Thought recorded a solo album to be titled Masterpiece Theatre and released in summer 2001, but the project never surfaced. In 2006, he began working on a collaborative project with producer Danger Mouse titled Dangerous Thoughts in 2006. In a June 2008 interview with Brian Kayser of the website HipHopGame, Black Thought spoke of yet another solo project, which will come out on the label Razor and Tie. He stated that there would be the possibility of Questlove working on production. and more recently its frontman Mike Shinoda's The Rising Tied, as well as Damian Marley's Welcome to Jamrock and The Coup's Pick a Bigger Weapon. In 2008, Peta2.com nominated Black Thought as among the "World's Sexiest Vegetarians".
Discography
Filmography
- Bamboozled (2000)
- Brooklyn Babylon (2001)
- Perfume (2001)
- Love Rome (2004)
- Explicit IIIs (2008)
- In NorthWood (2009)
External links
- - Official website of The Roots
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