Roots Co-Founder, Black Thought (Tariq Trotter)

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We continue our series of some of our favorite interviews of the year with co-founder and lead MC of the Roots, Tariq Trotter, a.k.a. Black Thought. When Trotter was a teen, he experienced one of the biggest tragedies of his life, the murder of his mother, and it was his friend and creative partner Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson who took him in. Together they co-founded The Roots. We talk about growing up in Philly and landing the house band gig at The Tonight Show. His memoir is called The Upcycled Self.

Later, critic Nick Quah takes a look back at the year in podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial.
0:05.0	When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow.
0:10.0	Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family.
0:14.6	For additional information visit dignity memorial.com.
0:18.7	This is Fresh Air, I'm Tanya Mosley.
0:21.3	This week we're featuring some of our favorite interviews of the year and
0:24.4	today we listened back to my conversation with musician Terek Trotter,
0:28.4	co-founder of the Grammy Award winning hip-hop group The Roots. He was our guest when his memoir was published. It's called
0:35.1	The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are. In it he talks about his life and
0:42.3	how as he remembers it it started with a fire
0:45.3	He was six years old deep in play with his army men those popular plastic figurines from the 70s
0:51.2	When he decided to flick a lighter to add drama to the war scene.
0:56.0	When the tip of the lighter got too hot for Tereke's little fingers, he reactively tossed it,
1:00.8	the curtains and carpet erupting in flames before engulfing the entire house.
1:06.0	Trotter examines the shame of that moment, as well as other harrowing events growing up in Philadelphia,
1:12.0	intertwined with joyful moments, like discovering music and meeting his
1:15.8	fellow bandmate a mere Questlove Thompson. Known by a stage name Black Thought,
1:21.2	Trotter is the lead MC of the Roots, which he and Thompson founded as teens in high school.
1:26.0	The group now serves as the house band on NBC's The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.
1:32.0	Here is one of the Roots first hits from their early album
1:35.4	Things Fall Apart. It's You Got Me featuring Erica Badu. If you were worried about where I'm in a who I saw
1:47.0	what club I went to with my own business,
	...

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