On Thursday, July 8, 2021, Black Thought of The Roots published his new audiobook, 7 Years. The book was released only in the United States as part of Amazon’s Audible’s Words + Music series, which chronicles the personal stories of musicians such as Sheryl Crow, Smokey Robinson, and others. Black Thought examines his life and work in seven-year intervals in 7 Years.
“This has been almost two years in the making…and I’m honored and excited to announce that my new @audible original piece ‘7 Years’ comes out today,” The Roots rapper explained in a post on Instagram. “It’s inspired by one of my life theories that every 7 years I should be actively working to become better creatively, emotionally, personally, and mentally as my body also changes and new cells replace the old. So in this piece of words and music I’m sharing some of these key important periods that have made me into the man I am today — with an original musical score that highlights the very first freestyle I ever wrote to our @theroots classics to performances of some of my more recent pieces.”
The “You Got Me” rapper takes listeners on an intimate journey that includes his turbulent beginnings in Philadelphia, dealing with a legal system that was rigged against him, and adapting to commercial success in mainstream America, all set to a dramatic and poignant musical score. Tariq Trotter, a rapper, combines sophisticated rhymes with piercing insight in this endeavor.
Summer of Soul (… Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), directed by Questlove, Black Thought’s right-hand man in The Roots, was released last week. The documentary film examines the Harlem Cultural Festival, which has been dubbed the “Black Woodstock” and described as a pre-Coachella music gathering.
The Harlem Cultural Festival was a six-weekend series of free performances that drew nearly 300,000 people in 1969. Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight, The Fifth Dimension, and Sly and the Family Stone were among the musical guests shown in the concert footage. Summer of Soul is presently available in theaters and on Hulu.
