Black Thought

Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, 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", 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.

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 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.

Black Thought recorded a solo album, titled Masterpiece Theatre and intended for a 2001 release, 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 ultimately appeared on Phrenology.

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).

Black Thought and Danger Mouse had begun work on a collaborative album, originally titled Dangerous Thoughts, in 2006.

There was no further news about this album for years, until the artists announced in May 2022 that they would be releasing their collaboration that August.

The album, retitled Cheat Codes, was released on August 10, 2022.

Cheat Codes included a posthumous appearance from MF Doom; other featured artists included Raekwon, Kid Sister, Joey Badass, Russ, Dylan Cartlidge, Michael Kiwanuka, ASAP Rocky, Run the Jewels, and Conway the Machine.

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.

Black Thought's first release outside of The Roots was the 2011 mixtape The Prestige, which he released alongside 10.Deep and the Money Making Jam Collective, the latter of which included longtime Roots collaborators such as Dice Raw, S.T.S., P.O.R.N., and Truck North.

In 2013, he stated his intention to follow the mixtape with an album titled Talented Mr. Trotter.

However, by September 2014, Black Thought and the solo album were not referenced on the Razor & Tie website.

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.

Capcom released a music video for the song that included 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.

However, Black Thought's next release would instead be the EP Streams of Thought, Vol. 1, a June 2018 collaboration with producer 9th Wonder.

That November, Black Thought and Salaam Remi released a follow-up EP, Streams of Thought, Vol. 2.

The third installment in the "Streams of Thought" series, Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able, was a full studio album released in 2020.

The album was preceded by the single "Good Morning", which featured Pusha T, Killer Mike, and Swizz Beats; other featured artists on the album include Portugal. The Man, Schoolboy Q and the Last Artful, Dodgr.