black thought masterpiece theater album download Roots' Busy With Album, Movies. Rapper, who's starring in ' Babylon' and 'Perfume,' is recording solo debut with stable of top producers. Rapper Black Thought of is in the studio recording his debut solo album, Masterpiece Theatre, which is scheduled for an early summer release on MCA Records. Black Thought (born Tariq Trotter) is working with a number of hip-hop's top producers on the album, which will come from a more conventional hip-hop perspective than the live-instrument approach the Roots have pioneered. ?uestlove, the band's drummer, produced two songs for the album, and is the only member who will appear. "The difference between a Black Thought album and a Roots album is the texture, the instrumentation," the rapper said recently. "The Roots albums are completely live instruments; the Black Thought album is different [types of] production." Among other producers cutting tracks for Masterpiece Theatre — which will feature no live instruments — are ; 's Jay Dee; Japanese trip-hop master DJ Krush, who produced the "teaser" single "Hardware," which came out in November; and , the Roots' original keyboardist, who provided the riff on Dr. Dre's 2000 hit "Still D.R.E." Also behind the boards are Hedrush, who produced several tracks on Dead Prez's Let's Get Free; Rockwilder, who produced the --Nate Dogg collaboration "Oh No," from the various- artists album Lyricist Lounge 2; and Philly's Chaos. Following Roots human beatbox 's 1999 LP Make the Music 2000, Masterpiece Theatre will be the second solo effort from the crew, which released its fourth album, Things Fall Apart, in '99. (?uestlove recently completed a jazz album titled Philadelphia Experiment with acclaimed bassist and fellow Philadelphian Christian McBride that will be out this spring.) Black Thought is also starting to make moves on the silver screen with his first lead role in "," directed by Marc Levin, whose highly acclaimed 1998 film "Slam" starred poet/rapper Saul Williams. "Brooklyn Babylon," co-written by Levin and veteran hip-hop journalist Bonz Malone, follows the story of a rapper who falls in love with a young Jewish woman. It was recently screened at the Slamdance Film Festival in Utah, and will be released in theaters later this year, according to a Roots spokesperson. "That’s my demo. I'm tryin' to get some acting credibility, get some other work," Black Thought said. "Right now, it's like a hobby; [] is my day job." The performer will also appear alongside Omar Epps and Paul Sorvino in director Michael Rymer's "Perfume," also due later this year, and had a small part in Spike Lee's 2000 film, "." Black Thought. Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born 3 October 1971), better known by his stage name Black Thought , is an American rapper who is the lead rapper of the Philadelphia-based band The Roots. Black Thought who co-founded The Roots with drummer , is widely lauded for his live performance skills and his complex and politically aware lyrical content. He has starred in films such as Bamboozled , Perfume and Brooklyn Babylon . He recorded a solo album, Masterpiece Theatre , but the project was scrapped when he learned that the album would not count toward The Roots' contractual commitments. However, most of the vocals appeared on The Roots' 2002 album Phrenology . In 2006, he began working on a collaborative project with producer entitled Dangerous Thoughts , but it is yet to be released. In early 2013, he announced he was working on a solo album entitled The Talented Mr. Trotter , which is yet to be released. He also began work on a memoir with journalist and music critic Jeff Chang. In 2018, he released a solo EP, Streams of Thought, Vol. 1 . Black Thought. As the MC for the hip-hop act the Roots, Black Thought has been unconventional even by the standards of that iconoclastic group. Where most rappers seek out publicity, Black Thought has avoided it and has rarely even been interviewed over the group's 20-year existence. "Some people —they like to talk, they like to interview…," Black Thought pointed out to Paul Farber of Philadelphia Weekly. "I come from a household where it's like, ‘Close that door.’ As soon as the sun goes down and the street lights come on, you close the curtains so people can't be lookin' up into your s-t. I'm that way in life." Despite his reticence, however, Black Thought's creative contributions were central to the success of the Roots and became even more important as the group set hip-hop longevity records in the 2000s and approached their third decade of existence. Black Thought was born Tariq Luqmaan Trotter on October 3, 1972. He grew up in the Point Breeze neighborhood in , . Although he concealed them from public view for many years, the facts of his childhood were grim. His father, a member of the 's Fruit of Islam policing arm, was killed while he was a baby, and his mother was also killed when he was in the 11th grade. Black Thought's brother Keith amassed a long criminal record. Black Thought himself, however, seems to have channeled his reactions into creativity. He started rapping at age nine and won admission to Philadelphia's prestigious High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). At first he studied visual arts and thought about becoming an architect. He had an instinct for commercial success from the start—he made African medallions and sold them for ten dollars each to his fellow students. Black Thought had disciplinary run-ins at CAPA, starting on his first day with an incident in which he was said to have been caught in a bathroom with a senior girl dance student, and he was eventually expelled. He graduated from Germantown High School and went on to study at Millersville University and to take journalism courses at Temple University in Philadelphia. By that time he was already a star with a local reputation. "What set Tariq apart was that he had an amazing talent to play the dozens [competitive impro- vised insult rhyming]," fellow Roots member Ahmir-Kalib "Questlove" Thompson told Farber. In 1987 the pair formed a duo called the Square Roots and took their drum-and-rap act to clubs and talent shows. Not needing electronics, they were also free to take their act to the corner of Fifth Street at Passyunk Avenue in downtown Philadelphia, and in the summer of 1992 they earned some $4,000 in tips. The Square Roots became the Roots, took on additional members (bassist [Leonard Nelson Hubbard], rapper Malik B. [Malik-Abdul Basit], and "beat boxer" human percussionist Rahzel), and gained a regional reputation for its live, non-electronic take on hip-hop music. Around 1993 things started to happen quickly for the Roots. They were invited to play at a German festival, recorded an album, Organix, and parlayed the original appearance into a European tour. Word filtered back to the United States, and the Roots were signed to the DGC/Geffen label and released the album Do You Want More. in 1995. The group gained attention for its use of live instruments and limited recourse to such staples of hip-hop language as digital sampling (sometimes they sampled and looped their own rhythmic patterns, but the collage-like aspect of many hip-hop recordings was absent from their music). The Roots won fans among both urban and modern rock audiences. Although the loquacious Questlove was often seen as the group's public face, it was Black Thought (after the departure of Malik B.) who provided most of the text content. His boasting raps reflected his early background in street and club "battle" performance, but there was also an element of social critique in his music. Some of his raps attacked the materialistic and misogynistic qualities of other hip-hop acts. After the Roots continued to gain popularity with the albums (1996), The Roots Come Alive (1999), and Things Fall Apart (1999), Black Thought planned to release a solo album of his own, tentatively entitled Masterpiece Theater. The album was eventually shelved because of disagreements between the Roots and their label (at the time) MCA; a solo Black Thought album would not have counted toward the group's contractual obligation toward the label. Much of the material Black Thought had written, however, showed up on the next Roots album, Phrenology (2002). Black Thought also contributed raps and background vocals to recordings by other artists including ( Plain Rap ), ( Like Water for Chocolate, which also featured several other members of the Roots), and ( Who Is Jill Scott? ). Indeed, Black Thought's continuing development as a wordsmith was partly responsible for the ongoing success of the Roots, long after most of their hip-hop contemporaries had disappeared from the scene. The Roots returned with The Tipping Point (2004) and Game Theory (2006), ranging ever more widely in their subject matter. Black Thought's more serious attitude, Questlove told Peter Rubin of XXL magazine, was the key to Game Theory: " Mostly, this is Tariq's ongoing evolution," he said. "Once you've mastered battling about your MC prowess, what do you do? I think Tariq has come to grips with his life. I slowly see him starting to open himself more and more and more." Partly Questlove was referring to the unreleased but widely circulated track "Pity the Child," on which Black Thought, for the first time, addressed the tragedies of his childhood. "Certain joints are a lot more personal, self-reflective, than I may have pulled out before," he pointed out to Rubin. A family also brought Black Thought to a new level of commitment; his son, and the boy's mother, were trapped in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and for several days Black Thought did not know where they were. Asked by the website thaFormula in 2007 about what motivated him, he answered, "I got a family to take care of and kids to feed. That's my motivation, this is my job." At a Glance … Born Tariq Luqmaan Trotter on October 3, 1972; grew up in Philadelphia, PA; children: several. Education: Attended High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA; graduated from Germantown High School, Philadelphia; attended Millersville University, Lancaster County, PA, and Temple University, Philadelphia. Career: Square Roots (musical duo), Philadelphia, PA, cofounder (with Ahmir-Kalib "Questlove" Thompson), rapper, 1987; group expanded and changed name to the Roots, early 1990s-; recorded unreleased solo album, 2000; numerous guest appearances on albums. Awards: (with the Roots) Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for track "You Got Me," 1999. Addresses: Label— Def Jam/Universal, 2220 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404. Web— www.blackthought.com. But continuing curiosity also played a role. "I strive for improvement," he told Farber. "I want to be a master of my craft. And I don't know if that's a work ethic that transferred over from the musicians I was around in high school, but that's how I get down. I want to be at the top of my game. That's what pushes me to go back to the drawing board and try to come up with some s-t that's going to be fresher." With a new Roots album on the way and a collaboration with producer Danger Mouse on the way in 2007, Black Thought seemed far from exhausted creatively. Selected works. Albums (with the Roots) Organix, Cargo, 1993. Do You Want More. DGC, 1995. Illadelph Halflife, DGC, 1996. The Roots Come Alive, MCA, 1999. Things Fall Apart, MCA 1999. Phrenology, MCA, 2002. The Tipping Point, Geffen, 2004. Game Theory, Def Jam, 2006. Albums (guest appearances) Common, One Day It'll All Make Sense, 1997. Pharoahe Monche, Internal Affairs, 1999. Common, Like Water for Chocolate, 2000. DJ Krush, Zen, 2001. , Next, 2002. Sources. Books. "The Roots," Contemporary Musicians, volume 55, Gale, 2006. Periodicals. Gadfly, February 1999. Philadelphia Weekly, August 30, 2006. Seattle Times, February 2, 2007, p. H4. XXL, October 2006, p. 88. On-line. "Black Thought," All Music Guide , www.allmusic.com (July 15, 2007). "History," Black Thought , www.black-thought.com/history.php (July 15, 2007). Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA Chicago APA. Citation styles. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Black Thought, Making Another Masterpiece. With 18 years in , there’s really not much of an introduction needed for The Roots. Headlined by resident drummer ?uestlove and MC Black Thought, the hip-hop band has collaborated with some of the biggest acts worldwide (Jay-Z, , Common, et al), and have helped launch the careers of even more. But just when we thought The Roots had been totally figured out, last year they made the curious decision to become the in- for NBC’s with Jimmy Fallon. Cautiously, fans joined the famous Philadelphia collective as they cracked jokes, acted out skits, and who can forget Questlove’s World Record for most picks placed in an afro? Fear not, die-hard-Stans, just because The Roots have planted themselves on late night TV doesn’t mean they’ve given up on making music and touring altogether. Their ninth studio effort, How I Got Over came out this June and for the second year in a row, The Roots will be involved in the Hennessy Artistry series, this time, co-curating the exclusive four-city tour with Q-Tip. Blending together artistic, musical and cultural talents, this year’s tour promises to be filled with a different set of acts in each city—those slated to appear so far include the much talked about Jay Electronica, Big K.R.I.T., Kid Sister, Travie McCoy, Marsha Ambrosious, and many special surprise guests. XXLMag.com recently caught up with ’s Black Thought to discuss his involvement in the Hennessy tour, life with a day job, and why his long awaited solo album, Masterpiece Theater, will never be released (because we’ve already heard it). XXLMag.com: How’d you guys get involved in the Hennessy tour and what exactly does it means to “curate” it? Black Thought: Our relationship with Hennessey started about a year ago… We did a run of something very similar but it was with The Roots and Common. But this time what’s different is the capacity to which Amir [?uest] and I are involved. Last year we were basically only involved on a musical level… Common was kind of, I guess, the ambassador. And this year, we’re in that role that Common was in last year. We’re more of the ambassadors. We have a higher level of involvement. We got to go out and go to Cognac and see where and how Hennessy has been made for years and years. We got to make our own blend to taste, we got to see what goes on behind the scenes at Hennessy and see the whole process that takes place before Hennessey winds up at your bar, or your store, or your home. There are supposed to be plenty of special guests on this tour; how did you go about choosing the respective guests for each city? We wanted like-minded individuals—people who share the vision. We wanted people who do very different things than what we do, but still compliment what we do. And we also want a certain level of surprise. We want the people at each show to walk away feeling like they’ve been privy to something very special… Something that’s like a once in a lifetime experience. The Roots , as a whole, have spent about 18 years touring; is it a bit weird to stay in one place for a bit at the Jimmy Fallon Show? Very much so… It’s a totally different animal than what we’re accustomed to. And I think that we’re getting used it but it’s still a bit awkward. I feel like I have a lot of time on my hands at home. I feel like I have a lot of time just up in the NBC building and a lot less time alone if that makes any sense. Like, we toured a lot, so we got accustomed to being in a different city every day and being in front of an audience but the audience didn’t really come around ‘til show time. So during travel time and before the show from day to day, that would be mine… I could read, write, and just do my personal thing. But now there’s a lot less time for me to do that with me having an official day job I have to be at. The Roots have already quickly become a part of the show’s fabric with the frequent skits; are you feeling the pressure to be funny? The audience seems to really be expecting a lot from you guys now. I don’t quite feel “pressure” to be funny but I definitely feel it’s necessary to come across as someone who’s open to suggestions, though. The writers weren’t quite sure if The Roots wanted to be seen in that type of a comedic light, you know? Just based on whatever image we already have. People have the tendency to think that The Roots are ultra serious and militant and… You think people see you as militant? Well, totally non-comedic. I mean, we aren’t really known as a band of funny guys so, making it known that we’re open to that type of humor is important. And we pick and choose. There are certain things that people write that I might not feel like it’s something I should do, but maybe a different member of the band won’t have a problem with it. There hasn’t been anything too outrageous to oppose to as of yet but people who have been a fan of The Roots or of me personally, they get a chance to see us in a totally different light. They get to watch us just cuttin’ up, you know? As your talent, and even your sound, has diversified, so has your audience. Do you find it hard to continue to cater to all of your different fan bases? I think it’s hard for lack of a better term, it’s just work. It’s definitely something that we’ve had to work at. There are people who have been fans of The Roots for a long time and niggas had some reservations about how this job would affect our music and the output. And I think after How I Got Over a lot of those reservations were addressed. We realized the diehard fans were secure. They know the quality of the music isn’t suffering. It wasn’t easy. Recording that album was a painstaking process but I feel like the end result… in the end, we achieved what we set out to achieve which is to let people know that the Fallon show is just something we taking on in addition to what we normally do, but it’s not gonna stop us from what we’ve been doing in the past. So what was so painstaking about recording How I Got Over ? We always record a mass of material and whittle it down and make it more efficient and this record wasn’t any different in that way—the process of trial and error, the think tank, playing music for people of different walks of life and just figuring out what combo of songs is gonna have the right chemistry. But with having the day job now the issues arrive of how exactly do we find the time to do all of that? The issue was time management. Over the years, the actual line up of the group has been very diverse and ever changing. Members have been coming and going fairly frequently– has that been a gift or in terms of the group dynamic? It’s a gift. It’s only added to the versatility of the group. We’ve implemented more instrumentation. The different members of the band that come in and out of play, it keeps a certain element of our live performances fresh. You know, people who have seen us dozens of times or hundreds of times, they still don’t really know what to expect, they never really know who’s gonna be on stage. The only thing you can kind of be certain of at a Root’s show is that you know ?uestlove and myself are gonna be there. Any word on your long-awaited solo album? I’ve been working on the solo record at different points of my career. And for whatever reason Def Jam wasn’t on board for what we were trying to do with that project. So it’s kind of been put on hold, and instead of being a full length Black Thought solo, it’s gonna be more of an EP. It’s gonna be short probably. Instead of 10, 12, 14 songs, it’ll probably be closer to six. I don’t have a working title yet, and I don’t know who’s gonna be on it yet but you can expect the bar to be at the same place that it’s always been. So it’s not called Masterpiece Theater anymore? Years ago I was working on Masterpiece Theater but then at the same time En Vogue had come out with an album of the same title. I don’t know how many people remember En Vogue’s Masterpiece Theater but my Masterpiece Theater project was actually supposed to be a specific collection of songs—many of which ended up being used. A lot of my Masterpiece Theater songs ended up on Phrenology. That’s the album that we were working on when I was also doing my solo stuff. Which of those tracks were originally for Masterpiece Theater ? Songs like “Water,” “Pussy Galore,” “Rock You.” The list goes on… there was just a lot of stuff that I recorded for that project and then in the end, in the ninth inning, I took it and made them into contributions for the Phrenology album. So I don’t know if I’ll ever have another Masterpiece Theater because the title was for a very specific group of songs that have already been used. But you’re also working on another project with Danger Mouse, right? Yup. It’s going really well. It’s a pet project we’re been doing together in our spare time, which there’s never really much for, you know? He’s constantly working, recording, and touring and so am I but when there is time for a meeting of the minds, we’ve been putting together this album. We have at least eight bangers… We’ve played the music for a few people and they really like it. But it doesn’t feel like it’s close to completion. It’s still very much a work in progress, but for that, we have the working title of Dangerous Thoughts . It might seem early, but any thoughts on the next Roots album? Oh yeah, yeah, we’re already working on the next Roots album. The day a record comes out is the day we start working on the next one, so we’re beyond just talking about the next one. Can you talk a little bit about the direction you guys might be going in? Nope. (Laughs) I mean, I can say… maybe what we’re gonna do with this record, or the next you might be able to expect a more stripped down return to the foundation of The Roots. The drum and vocal kind of thing. An early Def Jam, Rick Rubin kind of sound for today… Maybe… Maybe. (Laughs). —Aliya Ewing. Black Thought. 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, and his mother 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 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, Trotter became friends with drummer Ahmir "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., 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 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 Erykah Badu and . 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), (2008), How I Got Over (2010), (2011), and …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (2014). 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 the Roots' Phrenology album. In 2006, he began working on a collaborative project with producer Danger Mouse, titled Dangerous Thoughts. As of September 2017, the album had not been released. Black Thought married his wife Michelle in 2010. He has four sons and one daughter. In February 2011, Black Thought, along with 10.Deep and the "Money Making Jam Boys" collective—the latter of which includes , 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 , which was released on the 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 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, as well as filmmaker Maori Karmael. In February 2016, Black Thought joined forces with , , and to record a new track called "Rise Up" for the video game Street Fighter V. A music 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 where he performed a 10-minute freestyle over "The Learning (Burn)" instrumental by . This freestyle went widely viral, trending over for the next days and hitting millions of views on YouTube. Streams of Thought, Vol. 1, a collaborative EP with producer , was released on June 1, 2018. Streams of Thought, Vol. 2, a collaboration with producer , was released on November 26, 2018. On August 28, 2020, Black Thought released the single "Good Morning" featuring , and . It was included on Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able, which includes 13 tracks and collaborations with Portugal. The Man, and The Last Artful, Dodgr. Upcoming Birthday. Currently, Black Thought is 49 years, 9 months and 1 days old. Black Thought will celebrate 50th birthday on a Sunday 3rd of October 2021. Below we countdown to Black Thought upcoming birthday.