Ironically, it was their single What They Do, off their third album, 1996’s Illadelph Halflife – buoyed by a music video that parodied MTV rap cliches – that became their mainstream breakout, a beacon of idiosyncratic integrity in the genre’s sellout era.
Across subsequent albums, including their Grammy-winning Things Fall Apart (2000), Trotter earned a reputation as one of rap’s greatest ever emcees (“hip-hop’s Dostoevsky”, The New York Times called him), a powerhouse of lyrical ingenuity, limitless flows, and socially conscious thought.
- Advertisement -
In 2017, his 10-minute freestyle on Funkmaster Flex’s Hot 97 radio show went viral, boggling the minds of a generation who only knew him as Fallon’s sometimes foil on TV. The clip has since earned around 20 million views, not including the countless fan-made videos where users colour-code his intricate internal rhymes like they’re doing an English assignment.
It’s the type of video that gets constantly discovered and shared. As one recent commenter posted about Trotter’s performance: “I think he spat more wisdom in 10 minutes than I have in 35 years”.
“But, man, I always do, you know?” Trotter says. “That’s the funny thing; it was a great performance, but it was nothing different than how I’ve always done it. It’s the cloth I’m cut from. Anyone from my graduating class, that’s what we do.”
- Advertisement -
Last year, Trotter published his memoir, The Upcycled Self, which explored his rough upbringing in South Philly, the murders of both his father and mother, and his Nation of Islam faith.
“It’s my story, the origin story of Tariq Trotter,” he says. “My mother is a huge character in it, the city of Philadelphia is just as big. It starts when I’m about six years old, and it ends when the Roots signed our record deal… I hadn’t really told my story in the music, so this was my opportunity to give some insight into what makes me tick.”
The book also detailed Trotter’s lifelong, and at times strained, bond with Questlove, that other Roots mainstay. Besides the band, the pair also share the production company, Two One Five, which made the Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul. They’re currently working on a live-action reboot of Disney’s The Aristocats and a documentary on the influential late producer J Dilla.
- Advertisement -
Loading
They also have a new Roots album on the way, the band’s first since 2014’s heady …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin.
“Music is where it all began, so there’s definitely new music coming, hopefully in 2025,” says Trotter. “It sounds like an evolution. It has a certain level of maturity. We’ve found a new level of sophistication.”
- Advertisement -
And, no doubt, a new audience ready to receive it.
- Advertisement -
The Roots, with special guests Talib Kweli and Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote), will perform at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl on January 1; Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on January 2; and Brisbane’s Eatons Hill Outdoors on January 3.
