I aint one of yall peers, I'm the sum of all fears
December 14, 2017 2:37 PM Subscribe
The Roots' Black Thought unleashes a blistering freestyle on Funkmaster Flex's show on Hot 97 (NSFW language) for 10 minutes straight, doing everything from flipping words to talking about his position on late night television, to referencing a multitude of rappers from Rakim, the D.O.C., Kanye and Dr. Dre, to Kendrick Lamar, to talking about his mother and his upbringing and the current crop of rappers.
He's unreal. It's so hard to avoid stagnating or falling off as an aging artist...and he's basically become the grandmaster.
posted by gnutron at 2:56 PM on December 14, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by gnutron at 2:56 PM on December 14, 2017 [10 favorites]
I have no words.....
Because Black Thought just used all of them.
Holy shit, that was intense.
posted by kuanes at 3:05 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
Because Black Thought just used all of them.
Holy shit, that was intense.
posted by kuanes at 3:05 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mother of God. Black Thought just spat ribbons and ribbons of indelible verse.
posted by Bob Regular at 3:14 PM on December 14, 2017
posted by Bob Regular at 3:14 PM on December 14, 2017
fire.
posted by spark_001 at 3:41 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by spark_001 at 3:41 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
A god among men.
posted by Slinga at 4:05 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Slinga at 4:05 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
That was fucking unbelievable. Unbelievable.
posted by penduluum at 4:19 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by penduluum at 4:19 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Who needs a chain when every thought's a jewel?
posted by entropone at 4:27 PM on December 14, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by entropone at 4:27 PM on December 14, 2017 [3 favorites]
Astonishing. The flow and the words. What a performance. Truly the best of the Web. Thanks for sharing that.
posted by the sobsister at 4:50 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by the sobsister at 4:50 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
Hello.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:04 PM on December 14, 2017
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:04 PM on December 14, 2017
That was bonkers
posted by ejoey at 6:14 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ejoey at 6:14 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Throwing Planets and Stars.
posted by nickggully at 6:37 PM on December 14, 2017
posted by nickggully at 6:37 PM on December 14, 2017
Black Thought & Method Man on Sway in the Morning
posted by juv3nal at 6:56 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 6:56 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
He's a free man like Morgan.
Ooooooooooohweeeeeeeeeeee, y'all!
posted by droplet at 7:32 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ooooooooooohweeeeeeeeeeee, y'all!
posted by droplet at 7:32 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx killed it.
posted by metasav at 7:48 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by metasav at 7:48 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
Holy shit. He is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.! That is artistry and truth!
posted by pt68 at 7:49 PM on December 14, 2017
posted by pt68 at 7:49 PM on December 14, 2017
He has a style that is very identifiable, of a time long since passed, but clearly unsurpassed. The backpack's carrying you.
I loved every syllable.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:11 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
I loved every syllable.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:11 PM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]
I watched this straight through and my eyebrows burned off right before my face melted.
posted by device55 at 9:16 PM on December 14, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by device55 at 9:16 PM on December 14, 2017 [6 favorites]
"we like Henrietta Lacks up in the cells"
posted by straight at 9:56 PM on December 14, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by straight at 9:56 PM on December 14, 2017 [13 favorites]
I like how his sidekick starts out doing some kind of recording or webcast and finally just settles into sitting there and just listening.
posted by hippybear at 10:08 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:08 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
"a grain of salt tips the scales / it never fails"
posted by hippybear at 10:08 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:08 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm in no way expert on hip hop, but that's an amazing piece. If I were a high school English teacher I'd get copies of that printed out and on students desks in time for class tomorrow to study as their next assignment after playing the piece.
The movement of the lyric, from "Sorry for your Loss" to "I tell a story like fingerprints and blood splatter" is one of Black Thought giving two histories, the main one being of the black experience of rising then stagnation as they chase false ideals, and another of white artists and thinkers being surpassed, their "glories" behind them. The repeated use of quotes from or about white authors and politicians provide a sort of lesson in rising and failure that is used to underscore the more pressing issue of a similar path being taken by those not paying attention to their history.
The quotes from Yeats poem The Second Coming, has Black Thought as the falconer to the falcons under his care, "Things fall apart when the center to weak to hold ya'll" sets the tone for the argument he lays out that will use references from or to Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Kafka, Tolstoy, the Bible and even Kissinger, to an extent, to carry the suggestion of greatness in describing dissipation and destruction as those quoted are surpassed, but serve as warning. A number of black artists he references echo that warning, having attained prominence only to see it squandered, while others suggest some higher promise of possibility.
Black Thought goes back and forward throughout his lyric, reaching to the past to provide measure for the present, school lessons, his mother, babies, his early music days, where each undergoes a change that violates the promise of growth, from "I will not talk in class" to "pistols punishing people for talking fast". This is the reoccurring dynamic of the piece, looking back to expand on the present, from his own early days to taking care of his son, the drive for success in the music potentially a threat almost prison like with written bars and a prime time gilded cage, that could obscures the notice of the problems still present if attention isn't paid to the oppression still happening.
Some of these ideas are relatively commonplace in a general sense, but the flow of time in the references, from past to present, and then repeated, before the end ties back to the opening, and how the references themselves work with that flow to lay out Black Thought's message is excellent. The word play throughout of course also reinforces the themes as well. It's really an outstanding concept and obviously better delivered as it was.
posted by gusottertrout at 2:53 AM on December 15, 2017 [16 favorites]
The movement of the lyric, from "Sorry for your Loss" to "I tell a story like fingerprints and blood splatter" is one of Black Thought giving two histories, the main one being of the black experience of rising then stagnation as they chase false ideals, and another of white artists and thinkers being surpassed, their "glories" behind them. The repeated use of quotes from or about white authors and politicians provide a sort of lesson in rising and failure that is used to underscore the more pressing issue of a similar path being taken by those not paying attention to their history.
The quotes from Yeats poem The Second Coming, has Black Thought as the falconer to the falcons under his care, "Things fall apart when the center to weak to hold ya'll" sets the tone for the argument he lays out that will use references from or to Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Kafka, Tolstoy, the Bible and even Kissinger, to an extent, to carry the suggestion of greatness in describing dissipation and destruction as those quoted are surpassed, but serve as warning. A number of black artists he references echo that warning, having attained prominence only to see it squandered, while others suggest some higher promise of possibility.
Black Thought goes back and forward throughout his lyric, reaching to the past to provide measure for the present, school lessons, his mother, babies, his early music days, where each undergoes a change that violates the promise of growth, from "I will not talk in class" to "pistols punishing people for talking fast". This is the reoccurring dynamic of the piece, looking back to expand on the present, from his own early days to taking care of his son, the drive for success in the music potentially a threat almost prison like with written bars and a prime time gilded cage, that could obscures the notice of the problems still present if attention isn't paid to the oppression still happening.
Some of these ideas are relatively commonplace in a general sense, but the flow of time in the references, from past to present, and then repeated, before the end ties back to the opening, and how the references themselves work with that flow to lay out Black Thought's message is excellent. The word play throughout of course also reinforces the themes as well. It's really an outstanding concept and obviously better delivered as it was.
posted by gusottertrout at 2:53 AM on December 15, 2017 [16 favorites]
Absolutely magnificent.
posted by ZipRibbons at 3:07 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ZipRibbons at 3:07 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Holy shit. That was something else.
posted by slimepuppy at 3:32 AM on December 15, 2017
posted by slimepuppy at 3:32 AM on December 15, 2017
"I am a walking affirmationposted by box at 5:17 AM on December 15, 2017 [7 favorites]
That imagination and focus and patience get you closer to your aspiration"
I mean it was alright.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:43 AM on December 15, 2017
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:43 AM on December 15, 2017
Alright?! De gustibus non est disputandum and everything, sure, but...where might I see a similar performance that rises to the level of "good"? Because I could watch this stuff all day long.
posted by Ipsifendus at 6:22 AM on December 15, 2017
posted by Ipsifendus at 6:22 AM on December 15, 2017
How? Just how, outside the obvious quality of the writing, do you maintain such a precise flow and cadence for ten minutes? Holy hell.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:24 AM on December 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 6:24 AM on December 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
And his response to the response? "That verse was just what I had to say at the moment lol."
posted by rp at 7:48 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rp at 7:48 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
If I were a high school English teacher I'd get copies of that printed out and on students desks in time for class tomorrow to study as their next assignment after playing the piece.
Next assignment? I see an entire semester's curriculum in there. Working through the piece, stopping at each literary reference to read and analyze it, then back to the main until you hit the next.
posted by rocket88 at 7:55 AM on December 15, 2017
Next assignment? I see an entire semester's curriculum in there. Working through the piece, stopping at each literary reference to read and analyze it, then back to the main until you hit the next.
posted by rocket88 at 7:55 AM on December 15, 2017
This is phenomenal.
posted by rtha at 9:07 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rtha at 9:07 AM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
That video juv3nal linked of Black Thought and Method Man going back and forth shows that while this may be an exceptional performance, he's not exaggerating much when he says "just what I had to say at the moment." It looks like he can do this all day. Method Man's performance is great, but he still seems pretty intimidated to be following Black Thought. He's like apologizing at the end, "I wasn't supposed to come after his last verse!"
posted by straight at 9:20 AM on December 15, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by straight at 9:20 AM on December 15, 2017 [6 favorites]
(I think Method Man calls him "Big Thought," which is great.)
posted by straight at 9:28 AM on December 15, 2017
posted by straight at 9:28 AM on December 15, 2017
Questlove showing love with a thread full of Black Thought freestyles
posted by subtle_squid at 12:13 PM on December 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by subtle_squid at 12:13 PM on December 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
Transcription is up on Genius.
New/fixed link for that.
posted by progosk at 2:33 PM on December 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
New/fixed link for that.
posted by progosk at 2:33 PM on December 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
I know Genius is like wikipedia, so there are bound to be errors. Additionally the site went on some kind of weird spree where they were eschewing real meaning behind the lyrics that hip hop heads would know, in favor of media-centric but irrelevant explanations and links. So if you have some rapper that says "ya-mean", the people in charge (not your average user) would rather have a picture of Fred Flintstone saying "yabba dabba do" and some quirky non-explanation unrelated to the lyrics, than the actual meaning, which is just "ya know what I mean?"
I'm guessing part of that happened as control of the site drifted from the original founder, and into the hands of some people who frankly don't know what they're doing. Additionally a few years back the founders of the site got labeled as culture vultures, even though there are many rappers that have accounts themselves.
So it probably really is much like wikipedia, with wildly varying levels of quality. But anyway, those trends are why I didn't link the site, even as I knew that would likely be the place that had some attempted explanations of this. At some level, the idea that you shouldn't be able to just come to these explanations without immersing yourself in the culture comes into play, but I think any culture has times they let people see what's behind the curtain. Anyway, looking at it.
I'll stop when I get to 10 things I feel are wrong. "stole on" is fine as a term, but to me he seems to say "stold on" (or stoled on) which is just as fine. I grew up with both. But I'm pretty sure Black Thought says "stold". Where there should be an explanation of what the term means (a punch or a sneak/sucker punch), someone has indeed suggested that the lyrics are wrong.
And I'll stop there, because all the places I clicked where there should be explanations of the lyrics are instead explanations of how the lyrics as transcribed, are incorrect. Typically when some hot new music comes out, a call goes out to transcribe it and explain it. IT really speaks to how poor the site has gotten that something that set the hip hop community on fire still sits with loads and loads of errors.
posted by cashman at 4:04 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm guessing part of that happened as control of the site drifted from the original founder, and into the hands of some people who frankly don't know what they're doing. Additionally a few years back the founders of the site got labeled as culture vultures, even though there are many rappers that have accounts themselves.
So it probably really is much like wikipedia, with wildly varying levels of quality. But anyway, those trends are why I didn't link the site, even as I knew that would likely be the place that had some attempted explanations of this. At some level, the idea that you shouldn't be able to just come to these explanations without immersing yourself in the culture comes into play, but I think any culture has times they let people see what's behind the curtain. Anyway, looking at it.
I'll stop when I get to 10 things I feel are wrong. "stole on" is fine as a term, but to me he seems to say "stold on" (or stoled on) which is just as fine. I grew up with both. But I'm pretty sure Black Thought says "stold". Where there should be an explanation of what the term means (a punch or a sneak/sucker punch), someone has indeed suggested that the lyrics are wrong.
And I'll stop there, because all the places I clicked where there should be explanations of the lyrics are instead explanations of how the lyrics as transcribed, are incorrect. Typically when some hot new music comes out, a call goes out to transcribe it and explain it. IT really speaks to how poor the site has gotten that something that set the hip hop community on fire still sits with loads and loads of errors.
posted by cashman at 4:04 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also, I'm a cranky asshole on hip hop topics.
posted by cashman at 6:28 PM on December 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by cashman at 6:28 PM on December 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
Fallon interviews Black Thought about this performance.
posted by cashman at 10:02 AM on December 16, 2017
posted by cashman at 10:02 AM on December 16, 2017
I can't stop looking at how great his beard looks in that Fallon interview. That is the best beard I've ever seen.
posted by straight at 10:12 AM on December 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by straight at 10:12 AM on December 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
Philly guys specialize in those.
posted by cashman at 10:21 AM on December 16, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by cashman at 10:21 AM on December 16, 2017 [4 favorites]
I can't stop looking at how great his beard looks in that Fallon interview.
His moustache game is weak as hell. #longbeardandmoustacheownerfornearlyadecade
posted by hippybear at 8:43 PM on December 17, 2017
His moustache game is weak as hell. #longbeardandmoustacheownerfornearlyadecade
posted by hippybear at 8:43 PM on December 17, 2017
« Older Because a chicken does not have a penis. | Hey Alma! Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by cashman at 2:39 PM on December 14, 2017 [15 favorites]