Partners In Rhyme’s 6th Round Pick: Black Thought of Philadelphia, PA

January 16, 2014 by sMiles

Put on any Roots song and this GIF will be perfect

My sixth round pick took little thought. I had to take Black Thought. If you have ever so much as shuffled through The Roots’ discography, you can confirm the Thought’s adaptability. The Roots have so many different vibes, album to album, but Black Thought is never fazed. This truth holds lyrically too; he’s political and simultaneously hip, reflective and forward-thinking, big picture and egoistic. He wants to critique the world and change your view of life, while making sure you know he’s the best at doing it.

His rhyming is Eminem-esque at times; I have come to appreciate the lack of any regard he has for “true” pronunciation. He treats words as clay, molding them to the shape and style he pleases, giving preferences to certain syllabus – whatever it takes to keep his message intact while making his lines bounce. Especially after trading for Pete Rock, Black Thought is the perfect addition to the Partners In Rhyme label.

I made a mix of some of my favorite Black Thought verses, which exemplify his verbal characteristics I describe above: