To hip-hop heads, Black Thought has been in the conversation for “Greatest MC of All Time” for a while now. For that reason, his word carries a lot of weight. Last year, when the Philly rapper made an appearance on Drink Champs, N.O.R.E. asked him about taking aim at gangsta rap on the Roots’ “What They Do” all the way back in 1996.
During a recent chat with Talib Kweli on the People’s Party podcast, Black Thought followed up on that and addressed whether or not the song was meant as a diss. Additionally, he also talked about the reaction it triggered from his peers upon its release. Check out the full conversation below:
Regarding the intention behind the track, Black Thought said, “Nah, we weren’t dissing. First of all, I mean gangsta rap, what is that? Capone-N-Noreaga, I wouldn’t consider that gangsta rap. But everything that was taking place during that point in time in music had become so predictable. We did that song and then ultimately the video just as a satire. It was something that was meant to be received as comedy. But if you happened to be one of the cats who did all the shit people said we always be doing, then you probably felt a way.”
Among the many people in hip-hop who felt personally attacked by the joint was the Notorious B.I.G. Despite being a fan of the Roots, a particular scene from the music video of “What They Do” rubbed the New York rapper the wrong way.
“We absolutely didn’t intend for anybody to take offense,” he explained. “But there was one scene in that video where the director dropped me into a duplicate of a scene from somebody else’s video and it was a B.I.G. joint. So B.I.G., he really was offended by ‘What They Do,’ like by the video. He was rocking with the song, and then he saw the video and was devastated because he was a huge Roots fan. ‘Silent Treatment’ was his shit.”
“What They Do” by the Roots (1996)
“Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil Kim, anybody that was B.I.G. adjacent or associated always was really supportive of the Roots,” Black Though revealed. “So, when that joint came out, he was hurt. He felt like we was sort of dissing him after we bigged him up.”
He went on to express his regret over never resolving the issue with Biggie because of the geographical distance between them at the time. Less than a year after the song was released, the Ready to Die rapper was shot and killed at the age of 24.
“That was one of the things that sorta came from that whole ‘What They Do,’ and it was wild because we were living in London by the time it came out, so we never got a chance to resolve the issue — at least not face to face,” Black Thought said.
