Black Thought‘s Streams of Thought Vol. 4 is an album you don’t want to sleep on — according to the man himself, anyway.
During a sit-down with Redman for Rolling Stone‘s “Musicians On Musicians” series, the legendary Roots lyricist shed light on his upcoming solo project and did little to dampen excitement for it, crowning it his “opus.”
“In many ways, I feel like it’s my opus. It has the most features, the most elaborate beats, crazy samples,” he declared.
Black Thought also explained the lengthy delay behind the album, which is part of the series of solo efforts he began dropping in 2018. (The most recent one, Streams of Thought Vol. 3, arrived in 2020.)
“Part of that is the problem, trying to get all this stuff cleared,” he said of the seemingly complicated sample clearance process.
The Philly native has been teasing Streams of Thought Vol. 4 for years and previously revealed some of the tantalazing features that fans can look forward to.
“I have features with the usual suspects like Pharoahe Monch and Yasiin Bey. I even have Redman and Fabolous on there for the East Coast sensibilities. But then I have Tobe Nwigwe, Big K.R.I.T., Curren$y, Rick Ross and JID,” he told LEVEL in 2020.
“Everyone ain’t gonna get an opportunity to jump on a joint with me. You have to be able to hold your own, and it has to feel seamless. That’s what Streams of Thought, Vol. 4 is. I listened to it this morning. It’s only 30 minutes, but it’s crazy.”
Black Thought is especially excited about his collaboration with Yasiin Bey (f.k.a. Mos Def), with whom he’s formed undeniable chemistry on the mic over the years (see: The Roots “Double Trouble” and “Rising Down,” Black Star “Freequency” and “Respiration [Pete Rock Remix],” Freddie Gibbs and Madlib “Education”).
“‘Blaaaaack!’ became the first song I recorded, me and Yasiin Bey,” he told The FADER in 2023. “It’s a timeless classic. It’s been in my vault for a couple years already. It could come out at any point in time, and it’ll still represent a seismic shift in the game just because of how powerful it is and what it speaks to.”
Where the first three Streams of Thought projects were produced by 9th Wonder, Salaam Remi and Sean C, this upcoming fourth installment is helmed entirely by 14KT, the Detroit-bred producer best known for his work with Jay Electronica, Skyzoo, Elzhi and others.
