Hip-hop luminary Tariq Trotter, widely known as Black Thought and the founder of The Roots, will deliver the keynote address at Rutgers University–Newark’s commencement ceremony, where he will also be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
Renowned for his unparalleled talent as a rapper and lyricist, Trotter has established himself as one of the most influential voices in hip-hop. Described by The New York Times as “hip-hop’s Dostoyevsky,” Trotter writes with “a refined literary fire from the soulful furnace of pain and suffering.”
“One of the most influential and critically acclaimed popular culture creatives of our time, Tariq Luqmaan Trotter—aka Black Thought—has established himself as one of America’s most prolific, prescient, and powerful voices in music,’’ said Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor.
“He embodies the aspiration we have for our students to live into their life experiences—not running away from them or seeking to ‘rise above’ them, but owning their stories, building upon them, and using them to help cultivate new generations. That is what Tariq has done and it encapsulates why he is such an exquisite storyteller—and why we know he’ll be an exquisite commencement speaker.”
In a nomination letter for Trotter as commencement speaker, Salamishah Tillet, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Rutgers-Newark professor and director of Express Newark, described him as an artist whose impact has been far-reaching. “He wholeheartedly embodies the ethos of art and social justice that has long defined the city of Newark, in general, and Rutgers University- Newark, in particular,’’ she wrote.
“Continuing to honor the 50 years of hip-hop, a cultural movement that has redefined our country for half a century and expressed pride and justice for marginalized communities all over the world, I can think of no better commencement speaker than Tariq Trotter, an artist, activist, and intellectual who has used his voice to save himself, and in so doing, the world,’’ Tillet wrote.
Trotter, who was raised in Philadelphia and resides in Maplewood, co-founded The Roots in 1993 with drummer Questlove. They were among the first successful rap groups to feature live instrumentation, breaking ground in a medium that had relied heavily on samples and synthesized beats.
Throughout his career, Trotter, 51, has received three GRAMMY Awards and three NAACP Image Awards, along with numerous accolades and critical acclaim as an actor, writer, and film producer. Not only has he released eleven critically acclaimed albums with The Roots, but the group also served as the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for over a decade.
Black Thought’s solo music career has flourished with the Streams of Thought series, and in 2023, his BET single and music video “Love Letter” earned him his eleventh GRAMMY nomination and first as a solo artist in the Best Rap Performance category.
In addition to his music, Trotter served as the main composer and lyricist of the 2022 Off-Broadway production “Black No More,” in which he also starred, earning a nomination for “Best Musical” at the 2022 Lucile Lortell Awards. He has also made notable appearances in film and television, including HBO’s “The Deuce” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick, Tick… Boom!”.
Beyond his musical endeavors, Trotter, alongside Questlove, launched the production company Two One Five Entertainment, which executive produced the AMC documentary series “Hip-Hop: The Songs That Shook America.” They announced a deal with Universal Television to develop scripted and non-scripted programming, including the Disney Junior series “Rise Up, Sing Out.”
In 2023, Trotter debuted “The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are,” chronicling his journey of creativity, discovery, and inspiration, which landed on the New York Times’ best seller list and received acclaim from The New Yorker, NPR, The Washington Post, CBS Mornings, and more.
