Known neither as a spotlight-grabbing solo artist nor as the figurehead of the Roots, Black Thought is nonetheless widely recognized as one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time, dating back to the '90s with Organix (1993), his group's recorded debut. Despite Thought's anchoring of a dozen studio albums with the Roots, including the Top Ten, Grammy-nominated releases Things Fall Apart (1999), Game Theory (2006), and How I Got Over (2010), demand for true spotlight-seizing projects has been high since the rapper scrapped an early-2000s solo project for MCA. Outside the Roots, Thought has worked in collaborative settings for the Streams of Thought trilogy (2018-2020), Cheat Codes (2022), and Glorious Game (2023), releases that have heightened his profile as a masterful street poet.

Tariq Luqmaan Trotter grew up in the Mount Airy and Point Breeze neighborhoods of Philadelphia. His childhood was marked by turmoil and tragedy. Before his first birthday, his father was killed. At the age of six, he accidentally set his house on fire. As Trotter later immersed himself in hip-hop culture and graphic art, he was arrested for tagging (spray-painting) a basketball court. While in high school, he dealt crack cocaine, and was eventually prompted by an uncle to escape the Philly streets by living temporarily in Detroit with other family members. Shortly after he returned to his hometown, his mother, who had struggled with crack addition, was fatally stabbed. Trotter further developed his interest in art at Philadelphia's High School for Creative & Performing Arts, where he met drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. This connection eventually enabled Trotter to redirect the pain and anger of his upbringing into rap music.

The alliance of Trotter and Thompson, forged in 1987, developed into a rap unit that, after numerous developments and name changes, settled into the Roots. The band made their independent recorded debut with Organix (1993) and shortly thereafter signed with major-label DGC, releasing the RIAA gold-certified Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995) and second consecutive Billboard Top Ten R&B/hip-hop album Illadelph Halflife (1996). The latter featured the Top 40 hit "What They Do," thereby making Trotter -- then known more commonly as Black Thought -- one of the least materialistic rappers to cross over. In the process, Thought had attained major hip-hop clout, epitomized not only by his inclusion in the cover photo of XXL magazine's "Greatest Day in Hip-Hop History" issue (October 1998), but also by the recognition he received at the shoot from Rakim, one of his primary inspirations.

Moved from DGC to MCA and primed for long-term mainstream presence, the Roots had their greatest success with Things Fall Apart (1999), which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, eventually went platinum, and was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Album. Its biggest single, the Erykah Badu collaboration "You Got Me," won the award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Phrenology (2002) and The Tipping Point (2004) followed on MCA and Geffen, respectively, with the former set another gold-seller, also nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy. The Roots then initiated their longest label affiliation with Def Jam, an era that has entailed artistically uncompromised and Grammy-nominated works such as Game Theory (2006), How I Got Over (2011), and Undun (2013). Meanwhile, the Roots became the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and recorded albums with John Legend, Betty Wright, and Elvis Costello, though Thought was involved with only the first in the series, Wake Up! (2010), which won a Grammy for Best R&B Album.

Black Thought has been a featured artist on dozens of tracks since the start of the Roots' ascent, including titles by contemporaries such as Common, Pharoahe Monch, Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli, and J Dilla. As a headliner, his output has been minimal. In 1998, he and producer J. Tacuma, better known as jazz bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, teamed up for a pair of 12" releases on Japan's P-Vine label. A couple years later, there was "Hardware," a 12" on MCA proclaimed as "the first joint from the debut solo album Masterpiece Theater." That project was shelved, though some of its material was used for the Roots' Phrenology.

The next solo release from Thought didn't arrive until 2018, on the heels of a mind-boggling ten-minute freestyle for Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show. Streams of Thought, Vol. 1, a five-track digital EP with production from 9th Wonder (four tracks) and Khrysis (one track), was issued that June. By then, Thought had also established himself as an actor, and had added to his list of credits with a recurring role in the dramatic television series The Deuce. That November, he issued Streams of Thought, Vol. 2, produced entirely by Salaam Remi. He then worked with Sean C to make Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able, issued in October 2020. The set featured "Good Morning" with Pusha T and Killer Mike as guest MCs and Swizz Beatz as hype man. In 2022, Thought starred in a musical theater adaptation of George S. Schuyler's 1931 novel Black No More, on which he also worked as a lyricist. He additionally teamed with Danger Mouse for Cheat Codes, released that August with a posthumous verse from MF Doom and additional collaborations with Joey Bada$$, Raekwon, and Michael Kiwanuka. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 43. Next was Glorious Game, a 2023 release on which Thought was backed by dusty-groove synthesists El Michels Affair. ~ Andy Kellman

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and label executive Salaam Remi has been a low-profile but crucial figure in the evolution of rap and R&B since the mid-'80s. His immense body of work has been acknowledged with numerous accolades, yet his diverse abilities -- he's proficient at working with sampled breaks and live orchestras, and has been successful with belters, crooners, a wide variety of rappers, and even dancehall stars -- have gone severely under-recognized. This is due in large part to a preference for having the spotlight remain on the artists. Remi first topped Billboard charts as the producer of Ini Kamoze's "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (1994) and has produced material on Top Five pop albums spanning three decades, including Fugees' The Score (1996), Nas' Stillmatic (2001), Amy Winehouse's Back to Black (2006), and Alicia Keys' Girl on Fire (2012). He won an Ivor Novello Award for co-writing "Stronger Than Me" with Winehouse, is an eight-time Grammy nominee for his work behind the scenes, and earned an additional nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album with a rare solo release, One: In the Chamber (2013). Remi has since continued to work closely with established and upcoming artists alike. A small fraction of his efforts have appeared on releases for which he has been billed as co-headliner or headliner, including the Black Thought collaboration Streams of Thought, Vol. 2 (2018) and Black on Purpose (2020).

The son of Van Gibbs, a studio veteran who helped him enter the music industry, Queens native Salaam Remi Gibbs earned his first session credit as a young teenager via Kurtis Blow's 1986 album Kingdom Blow, on which he can be heard playing keyboards. It did take a few more years -- after assignments with the likes of Ziggy Marley, Bobby Konders, Shabba Ranks, Zhigge, and Biz Markie -- for Remi's career to reach full flight. His first crossover hit came at the age of 22 in 1994 with Ini Kamoze's Taana Gardner-sampling, Cannibal & the Headhunters-interpolating "Here Comes the Hotstepper," a number one Billboard Hot 100 single from the Prêt-à-Porter soundtrack. While most successful behind-the-scenes players have a hot streak that lasts no longer than a couple or a few years, Remi was only getting started. During the latter half of the '90s alone, he worked with an assortment of rap, reggae, and hybrid acts, ranging from Mega Banton and Patra to Buckshot LeFonque and Toni Braxton. Biggest of all, he co-wrote and produced Fugees' Top 30 pop single "Fu-Gee-La." Remi earned his first Grammy nomination for the contribution to its parent album, The Score, a multi-platinum blockbuster that was up for Album of the Year.

Among the most significant 2000s recordings featuring Remi's touch were Nas' Stillmatic (2001), Ms. Dynamite's A Little Deeper (2002), Amy Winehouse's Frank (2003) and multi-platinum Back to Black (2006), and Jazmine Sullivan's Fearless (2008). This crop led to three additional Grammy nominations: Album of the Year for Back to Black, and Best R&B Song shortlistings for Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows" and "Lions, Tigers & Bears." Not until the end of the decade was Remi able to find time to release his first solo project, the digital-only Praguenosis! (2009). Featuring orchestral instrumentals recorded during a trip to Czechoslovakia, some of its material was used for collaborations issued before and after release. "Shila's Playground," for instance, provided the backdrop for "Lions, Tigers & Bears." "Praguenosis" itself was later repurposed for Nas' "The Black Bond," which appeared on Life Is Good (2012), one of several other successful contemporaneous projects that led to Remi's 2012 Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Tamia's "Beautiful Surprise," another hit, was nominated for Best R&B Song, yet some of Remi's most distinctive work during this period -- Miguel's "Kaleidoscope Dream" and Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" among it -- narrowly missed the year's Grammy submission deadline.

While in the middle of his several-year run with Sony as Executive VP of A&R and Production, Remi put together another full-length of his own, the R&B-oriented One: In the Chamber (2013), through his Flying Buddha boutique label. Initially released as a digital download and made available through streaming services, it was given very little publicity, despite appearances from Ne-Yo, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jordin Sparks, and Akon, among others. Nonetheless, it was nominated for a Best Urban Contemporary Album Grammy, as was Mack Wilds' New York: A Love Story -- executive produced by Remi and released through another one of his Sony-affiliated ventures, Re Mi Fa/Louder Than Life.

During the latter half of the decade, Remi added to his stack of Grammy nominations with the soundtrack of the documentary Amy (Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media) and Miguel's "Come Through and Chill" (Best R&B Song). He wrote and recorded with Jazmine Sullivan, Faith Evans, and Anthony Hamilton, and produced Black Thought's Streams of Thought, Vol. 2. Remi also worked on collaborative projects such as Sex All Summer, the Champagne Flutes, and No Panty, acts featured on his Do It for the Culture platform/playlist in 2016. Remi followed up with the compilation Do It for the Culture 2 in 2019. The momentum continued into 2020 with Black on Purpose, an empowered set with Super Cat, Jennifer Hudson, Black Thought, and Nas among well over a dozen featured vocalists. ~ Andy Kellman