Black Thought’s five favourite rappers of all time
Rapper, singer, actor, television host: Black Thought is somewhat of a jack of all trades, master of… Well, most of them.
The Roots’ lead MC and lead lyricist, Black Thought, is regarded as one of the greatest MCs in hip-hop history, contributing his unique sound to the genre, one that combined intellectual lyricism with live instrumentation.
He is known for sensitively tackling themes such as politics, racism, trauma and identity across his music, as well as his prowess in unique rhyme schemes. Moreover, his place within The Roots – now the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – has elevated his platform beyond just music. Black Thought has successfully extended his prowess into the realm of other creative outlets, including the coveted nightly television fixture; but also extending to writing, acting, and film production.
So when Black Thought lists his five favourite rappers of all time, it’s worth paying attention. In promotion for his book The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are, the MC spoke with magazine HipHopDX about the hip-hop artists that inspired him the most in his career.
“I could kick Kool G Rap’s rhymes, from ‘Poison’ or ‘Men at Work’ or ‘Road To Riches’ forever — and these are songs that are already 35 years old,” he said, deeming the rapper’s lyricism as “timeless.”
Lyrics are not the only format of expression Black Thought admires in his aforementioned rappers. Describing Big Daddy Kane and Rakim’s movement as a “Shakespearian approach”, he continued to sing their praises, citing “Big Daddy Kane was far more stylistic than technical, or just as stylistic as he was technical, and he was smooth, right? He was a smooth operator.”
“What both Kane and G Rap, and also Rakim, brought to the table was a different cadence that we hadn’t heard before,” he continued.
In regard to Chuck D, it’s the rapper’s activism that Black Thought singled out for praise in particular. “Chuck was all activist, right?” Black Thought said of the Public Enemy frontman. “His last concern was cadence and flow. He was just more about getting you the information, being on beat, grabbing your attention, smacking you saying: ‘Wake the fuck up.’ And that was a brave, again, stylistic decision to make at the time.”
Black Thought’s influence expands far beyond award ceremonies and chart fixtures, and is the recipient of his own fair share of praise. Speaking of his fellow The Roots co-founder, drummer Questlove described Black Thought as a “lyricist’s lyricist”, reflecting the MC’s reputation as being committed to verses that lean closer to poetry than everyday chart fodder. Kool G Rap also holds Black Thought in high esteem.
Celebrating his performance over his writing, he described seeing The Roots cover his song ‘Men At Work’ at a show, and said “somebody sent me a clip of the Roots … and [Black Thought] did all three fucking verses and I couldn’t believe it—he killed that shit.”
Black Thought’s favourite rappers:
- Kool G Rap
- Big Daddy Kane
- Rakim
- Chuck D
- LL Cool J.