Blogs and Stories
The Thinking Man’s Rapper
How do you write a rhyme?
Rhymes will come to me line by line. Maybe I heard these two people over here having a conversation and they reminded me of a phrase that was coined years ago that people don’t use anymore that I wanna bring back. When I’ve accumulated half a book of these I’ll sit down and flip through and start writing a rhyme. I don’t usually write a rhyme before it’s due. I usually write a song when people are waiting for me to turn it in. I don’t just have a pre-manufactured thing. I don’t have songs I haven’t used yet. When I write a song, it’s tailor-written to whatever sonic bed was pre-existing.
How did you improve when you were developing?
I would always be rappin’. Always be rappin’. I’d just sit in this room and rap about everything in it. And you’d be sick. You’d be mad. Just stop rapping!
So young rappers trying should practice all the time.
The same way Norah Jones and Alicia Keys had to practice at the piano and Wyclef with his guitar, and ?uestlove—I’d call him after school and be like "Lemme speak to Ahmir," and his Dad would be like, he’s practicing, and hang up. That’s what makes a great musician, and if you’re gonna be a vocalist, if your voice is gonna be your axe, then you need to refine your knowledge. You also gotta be abreast of what’s goin’ on in current affairs, news, the latest reality-TV shit, what’s goin’ on in the Internet—you boil all of that down into one line that was witty because you compared this thing with that thing. You have to be knowledgeable of all the pre-existing information in order to edit it into something that’s fly to say.
Touré is the host of BET’s The Black Carpet and the host of Treasure HD’s I’ll Try Anything Once. He is the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN’s first pop-culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Obama, the Un-decider
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
Upset for the Ages
Touré is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He's also an NBC contributor and the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN's first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.
Do Bold Outfits Win Matches?
Touré is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He's also an NBC contributor and the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN's first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.
Lessons of the Beerfest
Touré is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He's also an NBC contributor and the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN's first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.
Thought is one of the most unheralded-but-ill rappers out there. He doesn't get much attention because of his membership in a group, I think, but when he gets an opportunity to display his skills, he shines brightly.
His flow on "Web" off of the Tipping Point disc is one example of his jaw-dropping ability. Rapping styles don't define him. Instead, he changes styles within the same song, or the same verse, or even inside a single line or two. Thought uses different styles as he sees fit.
Dude's mind moves quickly. His rhymes inspire me to keep moving and stay ahead of the game. He might talk about it being a hobby or whatever, but he's truly a devoted disciple of the art.
On the song you mention I am pretty sure that Thought is imitating both Big Daddy Kane and Kool Moe Dee (possibly Kool G. Rap) on two different verses. I was shocked and amazed that was him when I first heard it. I can barely listen to rap these days, but finally seeing these guys last summer was awesome. True artists, musicians, and showman. Not one of these best live hip-hop acts, one of the best live acts period
The song you're thinking of is "Boom", its on the same album, The Tipping Point, as The Web. He imitates Kool G and BDK
I really did get a chuckle when I found out that the Roots were going to be the house band on Late Night. I mean really, who is talent and who is supporting whom? In my mind, Thought and the Roots are on the short list of great intellectual artists of this time. Thank you for bringing us this piece and consider bringing us more of the same.
Great interview! This article makes me think of a Biggie line "Dumb Rappers Need Teaching...Lesson A..." Black Thought and the Roots are Brilliant musicians and they can teach these "Dumb Rappers" a thing or two about music.
Always good to see intelligent rap and hip-hop artists getting credit in a world dominated by shallow pop versions of the genre. It's about time that the Beast posted something regarding other kinds of music though. There's a lot of very intelligent musicians in rock, post-rock, folk, and jazz that are all writing songs about the state of our nation and the world. If you need somebody to write something like that Tina, give me a ring and I'll run a few ideas by your people.
What's with the strange anti-rapper climate?
"Most rappers do it as an ego gesture-I'm the man, check me out. All eyes on me."
"Black Thought and the Roots are Brilliant musicians and they can teach these "Dumb Rappers" a thing or two about music."
Umm...Black Thought has plenty of 'all eyes on me'/braggadocio raps, he also gets plenty of attention as a rapper. Most of it begins with explaining how he doesn't get enough attention as a rapper...
Thank you.
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