I have seen the Roots perform one million times now. From Tramps, to Wetlands, to S.O.B.’s, to the Apollo Theater, to the top of the fucking world in musical entertainment, Radio City Music Hall and never have I been disappointed. If anything they never play long enough. I could swear they did a six hour set for the Spitkicker concert series at Roseland Ballroom. About ten thousand rappers came onstage that night and spit they shit. Black Thought held all them dudes down too.
How can you fuck with a man who has every single rapper’s catalog in his head? There is some obscure underground emcee from Seattle, Washington who put out a white label joint in 1996 during the backpack rap heyday and the only other person who knows that LP line for line is Black Thought. Plus, just take a second and step back and ask yourself who has the most hardbody emcee name. Seriously think about that. If you had a super-power would you want to be the Hulk, or Professor X? That is who Black Thought is in this rap shit. He is the Charles Xavier to all these other Toad ass ninjas.
Alright so here’s how it went down. I came home from Wednesday night’s activities and uploaded the video footage from Niketown as well as Pete from Premium Laces birthday party. I got an e-mail from the homey at Okayplayer asking me if I had RSVP’d already to the holiday party. I hadn’t because I didn’t think I was going to go. The Okayplayer holiday party was sandwiched in between two nights of NYC madness. Later tonight is the Block Royal holiday party at their studios and then the Knitting Factory will host their final Hip-Hop show before shuttering their doors for good. This will be a classic evening.
I knew that if I fucked with this Okayplayer joint then I had to holler at my man fifty grand RUFFIAN. Ever since homey and I politicked a few years ago I have been fuxing with dude. Homey is from Chi-Town and he is a real nigga out in these entertainment industry streets. I made a 2009 resolution tonight to get more h8ters with RUFFIAN. Fam is that real (no Rosenthal). RUFFIAN hit me on the hip that he had the Brook’nam obama for us to get our weight up pre-game style before going in to see the Roots tear shit up.
MISSBEHAVE mag had a hipster bar onsmash in Williamsburg with the crazy special rum and Coke (no Dwight Gooden’s white pudding). As is my custom I was using both my hands to ferry drinks from the bar to where we were posted up. Another part of the ‘Go In’ Brothers crew was up in that piece. CHAD MILLER is the man and he only knows ladies in between the ages of 22 and 24 yrs old. As soon as you turn 25 he deletes your telephone number from his Blackberry. Did I tell you that JEN HODO was rolling with us too? Yeah, we were getting twisted up lovely on MISSBEHAVE’s dime. Pre-gaming is essential if your main party is having a cash bar. BTW, I also hit up the liquor store beforehand for two(2) 50ml bottles of Hennessy to smuggle into the club.
But this drop is not about me smuggling liquor into the club or getting my mind rizzight on some of that W.B. Last night was about enjoying the legendary Roots crew featuring Black Thought, single-handedly the number one emcee on the planet. There is no one out there putting in as much work as Black Thought night in night out for over the last decade. No one. I have to say that some rappers are lucky they are deceased because they would get murdered on the microphone by Black Thought. Bilal also murdered the microphone. If you put Bilal and Black Thought on a track with auto-tune the game would be over. After watching Bilal and Black Thought tonight I hate every fucking song on my 500GB external hard drive.
So classic, so timeless, so legendary.
This cat is definitely that 1TB hard drive MC….and the way he throws every dope MC’s bars into the wordplay…straight Bong-ladesh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wON6T0lAruY
Fuck Black Thought. Fuck the fact that for every 300 Emcees there is only 1 even trying to be like him. Fuck the idea that for every 100 Emcees there is only 1 that has studied the music, lyrics and flow of all those who came before him. And fuck the concept that there is only 2 or three cats with the talent, stamina and raw imagination of Black Thought. Black Thought is my ideal of where Hip Hop should be headed instead of these backwater, backward thinking, vocoder, top hat and plastic shade wearing Step and Fetchits cluttering the airwaves.
Peace to Black Thought and the sneaker addicted, junk food eating genius that posts this eclectic column all day every day even drunk, hung over, crabby and pissy. Ernie P (ya heard?)
The incredible thing is he has no throwaway lines. Every MC has that slightly cringe-worthy moment, where they may say some thing pauseworthy (pretty much every MC) or the flow gets the tiniest bit disjointed (Nas) or they some garbagesque line that you know could have been better. But not Black Thought. Each one is A+, word to the dean’s list. Even his lyrics on Birthday Girl, which on first glance should have been a verbal turd burger, were perfect.
I just hope to see the man in action before he goes on sabbatical. Is he joining the Jimmy “Laugh At My Own Jokes’ Fallon Debacle—I mean Show?
Word Up!! Black Thought is no joke and continues to get somewhat slept on!! Fuck modern day hip-hop! That shit spoils all the memories and idea’s that have associated with hip hop…
Props to the Roots live and Black Thought onstage but line-for-line? Ya’ll rank him like that? Explain the fucking ponderous “Star”, which descreated the living dead Sly? That un-goddamn-godly “Pussy Galore”? Etc. etc.
Black Thought is a great name but he’s NOT a revered MC because as a ** writer ** he doesn’t deserve it. Hint: it’s therefore smart to memorize other cats so he can be like a hip-hop Homer and do some oral recomposition and shit.
I respect the guy but can’t really make the argument he’s any overlooked genius; Chuck D. for one– long past what most consider his prime– slays him in the years since the Roots have been active.
Sorry to interject on all the talk about how much every one loves (or not) Black Thought, but ummm I’m mad you have a friend that deletes girl’s names in his blackberry as soon as they turn 25. If it’s really true, that’s ridiculously funny.
“It goes one for the hustle/two to rock rhymes/on the muscle, kid, I’m one of the illest of all time/I swing from chandeliers and wall climb…”
co-sign DP: Black Thought = GOAT rapper
I’ve been saying that in the comments here as long as I’ve been reading this blog.
WWIB Music Director, u need to spend a weekend reviewing The Roots’ discography. Black Thought has countless sick lyrical verses that match or exceed Chuck D or any other rapper.
What’s wrong with Pussy Galore? Did u even listen to the lyrics? BT cleverly describes how punani by US marketers to sell all types of products/services.
Honestly DP it hurts me to say this but yesterdays event was one of the best yet worst events I had ever been to. First big up to Dan and OkayPlayer for throwing a phenomenal event. Also big up to Joey Rubin (Taste Crew) and Mary (Love You Liked Cooked Food) for holding it down as well. But this shit was wack, and im not even mad that there was no Obama.
I am extremely upset at the crowd. It was a packed house at BB Kings and it looked like about 6 people were having fun (I saw you wildin out Dallas). Talib Kweli was ripping it along with Res (did you see that donkey)? and another fly female mc and the crowd looked like zombies.
What has happened to NY? I am ashamed to tell people im from NY after last night. That shit was disgusting. I have a few theories surrounding the lack of energy.
1) There was no Obama and people don’t know how to enjoy themselves without free alcohol.
2) People were already too fucked up from a previous Obama or drug intake which left them in a daze
3) All the Obama’s attended in the past month has had an sluggish affect on the entire crowd
4) Everyone in the room was either a rapper or worked for a label and was too cool to enjoy themselves
5) Everyone in the room was no self confidence what so ever and looks at what everyone else is doing for acceptance.
I need feedback. What the fuck happened to NY? I think we are too spoiled with quality events to appreciate anything.
I went to the Neil Diamond/Cold Play concert Monday night and that shit was a zoo. Fucking nuts, I smelled weed all the way up in the luxury suites.
We need to step it up NY. Thats probably why theres no premier NY artists in the game now.
Please give some feedback.
Word I give Gringo some love he been saying Black Thought GOAT, i wouldnt go that far but he is def one of my personal favorites
Yo DP i got another clip of my homie Thomas aka Sexy T aka Thomas the Tard
ifux.alumnah.com/2008/12/19/sexy-t-goes-in-again/
ay yo d
back to our conversation at (the old) fat tuesdays….i’ll agree its been a minute since beans has come with that hardbody. i’d have to agree based on this fact that black thought is the best mc on the planet. although i would love to hear the two of them on a joint together.
peace
fats
Gringo, I know exactly what “Pussy Galore” is about; Black Thought sure has, uh…
a grasp of the fucking obvious. Maybe he can tell us about the military-industrial complex next, or the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (now, if he did Civil Rights Act of 1876 ** that ** would really be something.)
Or am I supped to be sympathetic to their record company bitching on “Rising Down”? As if they ever had cause to believe they weren’t in league with complete scumbags; please.
With all respect (really), the only thing more tedious than the stretch it takes to include Black Thought as GOAT lyricist is to pretend Jean Grae doesn’t complain just a little (A LOT) too much about not being a star. Black Poet >>> Thought.
When the thing that’s most impressive about a guy is he can do dead-on Kane and Kool G Rap impressions… That’s why I listen to “HNIC 2” and Buckshot “The Formula” way more than “Rising Down”; I will say I prefer Black Though to nearly all the all-star doucebags they lined up there.
“When the thing that’s most impressive about a guy is he can do dead-on Kane and Kool G Rap impressions”
hyperbole from someone either unfamiliar with Black Thought’s discography, or lacks appreciation from excellent rapping.
I could start quoting random ill Black Thought verses if need be. But like I said, listen to the Roots’ albums, & listen carefully to Thought’s lyrics. You’ll see for urself how extremely nice Thought is. I recommend u start with Illadelph Halflife
I could easily match the hyperbole, & say “the best thing Prodigy ever did was invent the slant word ‘dunn'” or “wear a ballerina tutu & then get his career ethered by Joe Camel”. No need for such douchebaggedness tho.
Please do quote and if I’m wrong, I’ll cop to it. Meanwhile FACT is, nobody has gotten more breaks, more chances and proved themselves laudably meh than the Roots. AND I ought to dock them a couple notches for inflicting motherfucking Scott Storch on the world.
I’m continually disappointed by Roots albums that don’t come close to matching the implied (excellent) concepts of the album titles, “Phrenology,” etc. That’s just the way it goes, alas, but besides Blaq Poet (sorry for misspelling above) >>>> Black Thought (I doubt you’ll be quoting his “Duck Down” will you?),
Ghost and Raekwon (still) and– I’ll invite all derision– Sheek Louch (the poor man’s Ghost) all >>>> Black Thought (who’s OK) at his best.
When Big Pun, from what I understand arguably “The King of New York” in 1998, decided to make a song called “Super Lyrical”, who did he pick? What about all Pun’s fellow lyrical NYC rappers like Rakim, Nas, Joe The Camel?
Nah, Pun went to Philly when he decided to pick the most lyrical rapper, Black Thought. And Black Thought proceeded (no pun or no Pun intended) to outrap Pun “on his own shyt”.
Black Thought verse “Concierto of The Desperado” from 1996 Illadelph Halflife
The implorer, the universe explorer
Treat MC’s like the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah
Leavin these niggaz open like a box of Pandora
With styles that’s newer than the world order
Approximately 3 quarters of y’all are water
I straight deport ya
Then orchestrate your torture with roots of culture
The pilgrimage to the line of scrimmage up against your image
Where life is a heist, and the strong get a percentage
It’s ill as a war and within it I’m the Lieutenant
that surrounds you like a peninsula to snatch the pennant
You fold like Japan’s futons and fans
While I design a plan to make a rapper step like a pedestrian
I crush a mountain into grands of sand
Your pain stains the hand that held the mic inserted to the stand
The desperado, that refuse to follow
The Fifth afficianado, break you up into parts like vibrato
I deep like the dark of the night
Niggaz is sweet and sound silly when they talk on the mic
They use the simple back and forth the same
old rhythm that’s plain
I’d rather UltraMagnetize your brain
It’s the hip hop purist, that leave you lost like a tourist
inside the chorus, niggaz is bringin nothin for us
As we breakin em down to fractions, tell your squadron
It’s time to go to war, Respond/React
btw WWIB, why don’t u name some verses from ur fav rapper who supposedly is “better” than the “merely OK” Black Thought. Good luck!
another 1 of the innumerable ill Black Thought verses:
Black Thought “No Alibi” from 1996 Illadelph Halflife
Look into my window tell me what you see
lieutenant university of philosophy
while you not possibly escaping what I’m meditating
my shackle of thought tackle you while I’m educating
your dome’s resonating from inhalation & darkness
while I spark the smart shit from what you waiting
Siutating me at the top of the pile
wild Delaware Val, pennsylvanian,sub-terranean style
step up into my crevice and taste the medicine & the champagne
King like Evelyn leaving you leveled and
sabatoged,it’s all camaflouge like the devil and guns
and coke peddling,olympic medaling flashback
that of a war veteran,blast at
the programmer bringing lashes ‘cross your back
on some accuracy of a brainwashed Bosnian troop
that swooped down through your roof without sound
on a lyrical Nat Turner mission,reacting off of intuition
continuously alert,no intermission
if your ears hurt,you shouldn’t listen
that means you artificial and my style’ll poison your brain tissue
your inanes are crippled once the gamma rays hit you
my grains habitual and I should never go against
the ritual I’ve been mastering ever since
I was among the flavor youth,remain sharper than a saber tooth
my deliverance is self-evidance
vi-tal,lyri-cal science
NOW!!!
B Thought “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” from 2004 The Tipping Point
Yeah y’all, ideal for a lyrical perfectionist
Raw, that’s what every soldier in my collective is
Thought, control level is that of a gold medalist
My level headedness make it come off so effortless
The rebel is a opposite extreme of devilish
Back setting it with the answer to your deficit
Dog, my track record is hot shit, consecutive
Shmuck, I got game just like a record executive
A kiss to the feminine girls loving a gentlemen
A genius slash gangsta with a skill for swindling
Bet on Black
Bet these cats that’s all gelatin
Will fall back spittin’ them raps that’s unintelligent
Raps that cap, rabid rattlin’ out the gattlin’
Crippling rhymes whistlin’ past, blow you back in
Smellin’ your blood now I’m huntin’
Blowin’ your front in, for frontin’ what up cousin?
Oh, now it’s nothin’
Yo, you can’t go beyond a point of no returning
I flip like my name Turner
That’s for certain nigga, Ted Turner, Nat Turner, nigga Ike Turner
The raw Sojourner for Truth, the mic burner!
Im glad other heads think Black Thought is the best MC too. I have always claimed that and I always catch flak for it.
Peace Dallas. I was supposed to be at that MISSBEHAVE shit too but I got sick.
DUKES
“If you put Bilal and Black Thought on a track with auto-tune the game would be over. After watching Bilal and Black Thought tonight I hate every fucking song on my 500GB external hard drive.”
^ LOL
excellent post about an underappreciated and overlooked front man for The Greatest Hip-Hop Band On Earth
of course the obscure emcee would be from seattle but that said the roots do consistently bring their A+. when they have disappointed, and i have been disappointed in a decade and a half of listening, is when they don’t bring enuff of themselves to their own gigs and o’d on all those other folks song bt and crew masterfully retread.
Late to the convo – I’ve said Thought was dope for the lonnngest time. Philly stand up! Great drop, DP – even though you still shit on my town!