After emerging from his legendary career as lead member of The Roots along with QuestLove. He's taken his skill on the mic to another level. I've always loved The Roots and to hear Black Thought do his own thing is fantastic for the genre. His lyrical prowess is at the very very top of the leaderboards. His ability to describe and depict a subject and create a story is just incredible. And this album is simply just him showing off. The instrumentals are nothing crazy and experimental like a Kanye has produced but 9th Wonder has done an incredible job to create what suits Black Thought the best. Boom bap style with the classic drums, mixed with the jazz instruments which the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Anderson Paak love.
The record itself is exactly what you would expect and it's the medicine you've been asking for, for ages. The title of the album itself describes exactly what it is about but as you can expect every song is layered with anecdotes for example on the second track '9th vs Thought', the interlude uses a quote from Toni Morrison’s public lecture series, she made in May 1975 at the Portland State University for the “Black Studies Department". and is followed by Black Thought's mindest on the term Anthropology. The album is finalised with a Thank You message for those in his life who have supported him, including his inspirations, friends and family and of course his fans like us. Nothing spectactular in this song and a track everyone can understand but the soft melow chorus and smooth crusing flow adapted with the 9th Wonder production is perfect.
Black Thought is an artist most people will not describe as one of the best to ever pick up the mic but if they listened to this album they would understand why Hip-Hop fans rate him so highly. Unfortunetly this album isn't the longest however the two hip hop features are superb as they add a dark element to the tracks. Both extremely talented in their own respect however i would've loved an all Black Thought album with more tracks as that is what he does best. The producer selection couldn't have been better. Overall this album is a near perfect one and combined with his follow up album it makes up for his lack of tracks.
Favourite Tracks: 9th vs Thought, Twofilfteen
Rating 7/10
