black thought
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Leonard “Hub” Hubbard, former bassist for The Roots, Dies at 62
Forner The Roots bassist Leonard “Hub” Hubbard passes away at age 62, after battling blood cancer.
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Apple Music to Release Juneteenth 2021 Freedom Songs, Featuring New Songs and Covers
Juneteenth (observed on June 19) is definitely one of the most significant celebrations in Black culture. As you know, celebrations typically come with a dope soundtrack, and Juneteenth is no exception. Very Smart Brothas even curated a playlist for the Black-ass holiday in 2020. This year, Apple Music announced their new original playlist titled Juneteenth…
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Oprah, Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance and Phylicia Rashad Among Cast in Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me HBO Adaptation
We have a paramount cast lineup for a paramount author’s paramount work! On Thursday afternoon, HBO announced the initial cast for its adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. And wow, what a lineup. The cast includes Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett, Alicia Garza, Joe Morton, Phylicia Rashad, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Courtney B.…
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Rapper Malik B., Founding Member of The Roots, Dead at 47
As a superfan of the hip-hop group The Roots, I will always contend that “Water,” a raw and vulnerable tale of addiction and friendship. is the best song they ever made, and—along with Kendrick Lamar’s “Duckworth”—one of the greatest examples of hip-hop storytelling ever. Malik B., the talented rapper, longtime member of The Roots, and…
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Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and Tarik 'Black Thought' Trotter Sign First-Look Deal With Universal Television
Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and Tarik ‘Black Thought’ Trotter (the latter of which may still hold the crown for the greatest freestyle in modern-day time) are having a pretty damn good week. The duo—who are part of the Grammy award-winning hip-hop collective The Roots—have signed a first-look deal with Universal Television and Universal Television Alternative Studio,…
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The Roots Announce Live Performances, Behind-the-Scenes Stories to Deliver Us All From Cabin Fever
Much like everyone else at the moment, The Roots have a lot of time on their hands. But even with no shows to book and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon shifting to an at-home operation due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the band is refusing to allow their tremendous talent to go to…
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So Black Thought, Phonte and Rhymefest Are Forming a SuperGroup. I Really Hope This Ends Up Dope
The rap world was enraptured for various reasons with the out-of-the-blue release of Eminem’s latest coaster, Kamikaze, for most of this past week. I gave it a few listens and deleted it from my phone library. Eminem is one of those rappers who on technical merits alone is one of the best, if not the…
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The 10 Most Awesome Parts of The Roots x Backstreet Boys x Jimmy Fallon's 'I Want It That Way' Classroom-Instruments Video
1. Black Thought—possibly the greatest rapper of all time, in the back row in a white, cat-daddy ensemble, complete with white, cat-daddy hat—getting his entire life with a triangle. 2. Black Thought having possibly more fun than anybody else singing the greatest song to ever come out of the white boy-band phenomenon of the late…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: The Roots and Common ‘Act Too (The Love of My Life)’
The Roots’ fourth album, 1999’s Things Fall Apart, is largely regarded as the album that put them over the top. While Organix, Do You Want More?!!!??! (personal fave) and Illadelph Halflife were all dope albums with superb hits—“Silent Treatment,” “Clones,” “Proceed” and “What They Do” immediately come to mind—Things Fall Apart is the one where…
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Why Black Thought Doesn’t Rank As High on Rap GOAT Lists as He Should
Last week, Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, frontman for the Roots, tried to break the rapper-nets with a 10-minute freestyle with Funkmaster Flex over the Mobb Deep “Burn” instrumental that even had people who think Kevin Gates is the best rapper of all time impressed. Even calling his performance impressive undersells it. For my money,…