We continue our series of some of our favorite interviews of the year with co-founder and lead MC of the Roots, Tariq Trotter, a.k.a. Black Thought. When Trotter was a teen, he experienced one of the biggest tragedies of his life, the murder of his mother, and it was his friend and creative partner Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson who took him in. Together they co-founded The Roots. We talk about growing up in Philly and landing the house band gig at The Tonight Show. His memoir is called The Upcycled Self. Later, critic Nick Quah takes a look back at the year in podcasts. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
On the Ted Radio hour, linguist Ann Curzan says she gets a lot of complaints about people using the pronoun they to refer to one person.
I sometimes get into arguments with people where they will say to me, but it can't be singular.
And I will say, but it is the history behind words causing a lot of debate.
That's on the Ted radio hour from NPR.
This is FRESH AIR.
I'm Tanya Moseley.
This week we're featuring some of our favorite interviews of the year, and today we listen back to my conversation with musician Tariq Trotter, co founder of the Grammy award winning hip hop group the Roots.
He was our guest when his memoir was published.
It's called the Upcycled, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are.
In it, he talks about his life and how, as he remembers it, it started with a fire.
He was six years old, deep in play with his army men, those popular plastic figurines from the seventies, when he decided to flick a lighter to add drama to the war scene.
When the tip of the lighter got too hot for Tariq's little fingers, he reactively tossed it, the curtains and carpet erupting in flames.
Before engulfing the entire house.
Trotter examines the shame of that moment as well as other harrowing events growing up in Philadelphia, intertwined with joyful moments like discovering music and meeting his fellow bandmate, Amir Questlove Thompson.
Known by his stage name Black thought.
Trotter is the lead emcee of the Roots, which he and Thompson founded as teens in high school.
The group now serves as the house band on NBC's the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Here is one of the roots first hits from their early album, Things Fall Apart.
It's you got me, featuring Erica Badu.
If you worry about where I've been a who I saw, what club I went to with my homies baby don't worry, you know that you got me if you were worried.