Tariq Trotter, a.k.a. Black Thought, might be Jimmy Fallon’s bandleader on The Tonight Show, but his band, The Roots, are one of the most famous hip-hop groups period. His drummer and face of the group, Questlove, is also one of the most respected figures in music today, as well as their original keyboardist, Scott Storch, who would go on to produce hits for Dr. Dre and namely everyone who made successful pop and rap hits in the 90’s.
But today’s post isn’t about the accolades of the Roots, it’s about how Tariq owns the mic literally every time he steps up to the plate, and on David Banner’s record The God Box, his feature on “Who Want It” is no exception. Referencing comparisons to other musicians, the “Roxanne Wars” from mid-80’s hip-hop, Mad Men, old African words, the Philadelphia area code, and ending his barrage with the destructive power of the Hulk, Black Thought destroys Banner on his own track and leaves us begging for a new Roots record pronto.
Read the lyrics below via Genius and listen via Apple Music and Spotify:
[Black Thought – “Who Want It” 1st Verse by David Banner]
215, I got the wordplay of Wallace, work ethic of Shakur
I was sent into to the future with a message from the Moors
I went to war, my weapon just a blessing from the lord
Rest assured that my pen is more mighty than a sword
I got plans, I’m taking my revenge like Roxanne
My man swam here from Mississippi, god damn
Y’all fall for anything, that’s the shit I cannot stand
We on that CMB, basically all we got fam
Y’all know my lineage is godliness and cleanliness
Otis used to sing how we should try a little tenderness
But they ultra envious, crazy disingenuous like
Who need a enemy if that’s what type of friend you is
I pull off capers and Don Draper a skyscraper
Defy nature, leave ’em stuffed like fly paper
Who ever said we not at the top of the totem
Smoking Lamar Odom
You bring the bar lower, we pack ’em and bar code ’em
After it’s all over I capture the far nova
Back to the Mars Rover then
Let Sankofa supply me with the Gamma
I smash the vocal booth and turn back to David Banner
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