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Black Thought
Background information
Birth name	Tariq Trotter
Born	October 3, 1972
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre(s)	Hip hop
Years active	1987–Present
Label(s)	Def Jam
Associated acts	The Roots

Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter a.k.a. Bad Lieutenant, Big Bank Willie Gank, and 'Riq Geez Born October 3, 1972. is the MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots. Black Thought and The Roots have a solid and devoted following. Thought, who co-founded The Roots with drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson), is widely lauded for his lyrics' political bent, lyrical complexity, and his live performances.

Tariq and ?uest met in the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts, and formed a drummer/MC duo performing on the streets of Philly and at talent shows. Thought would subsequently spend some time as one of two MCs in the group The Square Roots: the other one was Malik B.

A name change (to simply The Roots) and an album release (Organix) Black Thought and Malik struck a balance, with Malik bringing more personal raps and Thought oriented more towards a more political style infused with battle raps.

After Malik B. left the group due to drug issues, Thought continued drifting toward the political, and was featured on several other records like Common's One Day it'll All Make Sense, Linkin Park's Reanimation and more recently its frontman Mike Shinoda's The Rising Tied, as well as Damian Marley's Welcome to Jamrock and The Coup's Pick a Bigger Weapon.

Black Thought was in the process of recording a solo album, but the project was shelved when it was realized the effort would not assist the group in their release from their contract with MCA Records. Some of the songs he had recorded were eventually released as tracks on The Roots' album Phrenology. He is working on a collaborative project with producer Danger Mouse (which, according to XXL magazine, is tentatively being called Dangerous Thoughts), as well as a Gangsta Grillz mixtape with DJ Drama. He is still a core member of The Roots. He has also been a member of two production teams, Grand Negaz and The Grand Wizzards.

The Roots latest album Game Theory shows a more introspective side of Black Thought and is the "darkest" Roots album to date.

• "X-Ecutioner Style", Reanimation, Linkin Park
• "Right Now", The Rising Tied, Fort Minor
• "Flutlicht", Sinnflut, Curse
• "Meiso", Meiso, DJ Krush
• "Stolen Moments pt II", One Day it'll All Make Sense, Common
• "Super Lyrical", Capital Punishment, Big Pun
• "Live From the Sretch Armstrong Show", Lyricist Lounge Volume One, Various Artists
• "It's About That Time", Soul Survivor, Pete Rock
• "Respiration (Flying High Remix)", Respiration 12", Black Star
• "Hard Hitters", Expansion Team, Dilated Peoples
• "Guerilla Monsoon Rap", Quality, Talib Kweli
• "Burnin' and Lootin'", Chant Down Babylon (Post-Humous Remix), Bob Marley
• "Live From The PJs", Built From Scratch, The X-Ecutioners
• "Appreciate", Love and Life, Latoya London

• Black Thought discography