BLACK THOUGHT WANTS TO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER

Tariq Trotter—better known as Black Thought, the poetic frontman and emcee of the legendary hip-hop group The Roots—has been in the music game thriving for a few decades now. Whether you want to start the clock from when The Roots released their first record, Organix, in 1993, or even earlier, when the fledgling rapper was absorbing the craft in Philadelphia parks and basement parties in the early ’80s, the emcee is both a veteran and an ambassador of hip-hop. We caught up with Black Thought, who will release his latest solo record, Streams of Thought, Vol. 3, in September, to ask him about his early days in music, his bond with his longtime drummer and collaborator Questlove, and how to survive the news cycle when you’re floating around it.