In the last month, Black Thought published his memoir, The Upcycled Self. Appearing on the New York Times’ “Best Sellers” list, the autobiography reveals aspects of Tariq Trotter’s personal life, including suffering the losses of his father and mother, respectively. The Grammy Award-winning (and currently nominated) Roots MC examines his life, and how the husband and father has worked to create healthy spaces and opportunities for others.

To promote the text, Trotter guested on Questlove Supreme, alongside his band-mate Questlove, his longtime collaborator Phonte, as well as Laiya St. Clair, “Unpaid” Bill Sherman, and “Suga” Steve. The hour-plus conversation covers the book, aspects of Black Thought’s daily life, and reports that he continues to record new solo material with past collaborator Madlib.

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However, towards the end of the interview, Questlove asks his best friend about 5 MCs that fans may be surprised to learn he is a fan of. The Roots’ drummer rewords to suggest “under-championed, non-obvious” answers that defy Big Daddy Kane as an answer—an artist that Black Thought has admired and emulated at times. Quest also shares that over their 30-plus years together, Black Thought’s musical tastes have led him to gain newfound appreciation for Hip-Hop artists including M.C. Hammer, Nice & Smooth, 8Ball & MJG, and Pastor Troy.

“I think Special Ed is an unsung hero,” begins Tariq. “His album, The Youngest In Charge — you talk about the power of youthful expression; Special Ed was 14 years old. I look at my kids at 14. If I’m in a moment where I have to just rap a rap, I’m gonna pull from anywhere—I’ve rapped from anybody’s catalog—s__t that you don’t even remember you wrote. One of the rhymes that I often do is [‘Come On, Let’s Move It’].” Tariq then raps handfuls of bars from the single to Ed’s 1990 sophomore album, Legal. “This a [teenager] that wrote that and that’s timeless. No matter what the sound-bed is, the music that I put it over, those bars will forever reign poetic and bring somethin’ up [for] folks that hear it.” He confirms, “Special Ed is just super dope, so he’s one of those ones.”

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Black Thought moves to another 1980s act that actually predates Ed. “I think Kool Keith, man. S__t, he was like the Thelonious Monk of this s__t in that his s__t didn’t even have to rhyme. Him and Ced [Gee]—like Ultramagnetic MC’s were ahead of their time in so many ways. Yeah, Kool Keith is another one.”

For #3, Tariq stays in the Bronx. “Greg Nice. He is [among] geniuses that I was able to recognize and latch onto, in that it’s something from their body of work that I’ve extracted. All of the above—I kick their bars every day like the s__t just came out.”

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Black Thought closes out the five with two artists who broke through in the 2010s. “Mach-Hommy, that’s my ace. He was just in the studio with us the other night,” Tariq confirms. “I think he’s one of those ones—someone who, again, understands a sensibility of a person whose been around since the ’90s, but in some ways just feels cutting-edge. I think his association with the whole Griselda family and that movement, but the way that he’s distinctly different, is huge too.” The New Jersey MC released 2021’s Pray 4 Haiti on Westside Gunn’s label to critical acclaim (including Ambrosia For Heads), while other maintaining a prolific self-release schedule.

Phonte points to Tariq that the two of them have each worked with Your Old Droog. “That’s the second person I was about to name,” Black Thought admits. “Your Old Droog is actually my connection to Mach-Hommy. But he’s another one. When Your Old Droog came out, I didn’t rock with it.” Questlove admits he thought the Brooklyn MC (who did not promote his identity) was Nas. Tariq concurs: “I thought his voice—I thought he sounded too much like Nas, and I’m huge on just being original. I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not rockin’ with that s__t.’ But I think it was ‘Hoodie [Weather]’ or one of those first joints…but I met him on the road, opening up for Royce [5’9 and DJ] Premier when they were doing their PRhyme Tour, and we sort of hit it off. I talk about mentorship, and artists that we share demos with one another, and I’m able to offer sage wisdom and they’re not gonna catch feelings if I say I don’t like this one and I don’t like that one. He’s been one of those artists.”

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Tariq says that Mach-Hommy was once non-responsive, but Droog was able to link the MCs. He also says that Y.O.D. defied that initial stigma. “I had to give it up because he proved that he was a real deal.” Previously, Black Thought worked with Your Old Droog and Mach-Hommy (as well as El-P and Tha God Fahim) on 2020’s “Pravda.” The song released on Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition, which was named among AFH‘s Best Albums of 2020.

During 2023, Kool Keith released a sequel to his Black Elvis album, which featured Ice-T, Marc Live, and Agallah. Mach-Hommy and Tha God Fahim partnered for Notorious Dump Legends: Volume 2. Throughout the year, Y.O.D. released singles, including the most recent “Northface With ACGs” alongside Rome Streetz.

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Black Thought and the El Michels Affair’s Glorious Game was named among AFH‘s Best Albums Of 2023. His new memoir, The Upcycled Self, is available now. New music by Black Thought is currently on the AFH playlist.

#BonusBeat: Black Thought tells Ambrosia For Heads about how hard artists would go to get fresh J Dilla beats: