Crédits photo : Capture d'écran Twitter
Malik B., de son vrai nom Malik Abdul Basit, est mort à l'âge de 47 ans. Il était l'un des membres fondateurs du groupe américain The Roots, pionnier du hip-hop. La formation a annoncé la triste nouvelle sur ses réseaux sociaux : « Nous sommes au regret de vous informer du décès de notre frère bien-aimé et longtemps membre des Roots, Malik Abdul Basit. Que l'on se souvienne de lui pour sa dévotion à l'islam et son innovation en tant qu'un des MCs les plus doués de tous les temps. Nous vous demandons de respecter sa famille en ces temps de deuil ». Les causes de la mort restent encore inconnues. Malik B. était présent dès la formation du groupe The Roots en 1987 à Philadelphie aux côtés de Black Thought ou Questlove. Il officiera en tant que rappeur sur quatre albums avant de quitter le groupe en 1999. Suite à son départ, il sortira deux albums solos en 2005 et 2015.

"Le monde vient de perdre un vrai talent"

Collaborant avec de nombreux artistes de la scène soul comme John Legend, Erykah Badu ou D'Angelo, The Roots est aujourd'hui le groupe musical qui accompagne chaque soir Jimmy Fallon lors de son célèbre late-show depuis 2009. Les autres membres de The Roots ont évidemment rendu hommage à la mémoire de Malik B. Tandis que Questlove se remémore quelques histoires personnelles, le chanteur Black Thought écrit un long message sur Instagram : « Nous nous sommes fait un nom et nous avons creusé une voie là où il n'y en n'avait pas (...) En compétition amicale depuis le premier jour, je me suis toujours senti comme si je possédais qu'une fraction de ton don et de ton potentiel (...) Je ne peux qu'espérer de t'avoir rendu aussi fier que tu me l'as rendu. Le monde vient de perdre un vrai talent. Puisse Allah te pardonner, pardonner des pêchés et t'accorde le plus haut niveau de paradis ».

We regretfully inform you of the passing of our beloved brother and long time Roots member Malik Abdul Basit. May he be remembered for his devotion to Islam and innovation as one of the most gifted MCs of all time. We ask that you please respect his family in our time of mourning pic.twitter.com/NVHtb2CFWP

— The Roots (@theroots) July 29, 2020

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We made a name and carved a lane together where there was none. We ressurected a city from the ashes, put it on our backs and called it Illadelph. In friendly competition with you from day one, I always felt as if I possessed only a mere fraction of your true gift and potential. Your steel sharpened my steel as I watched you create cadences from the ether and set them free into the universe to become poetic law, making the English language your bitch. I always wanted to change you, to somehow sophisticate your outlook and make you see that there were far more options than the streets, only to realize that you and the streets were one... and there was no way to separate a man from his true self. My beloved brother M-illitant. I can only hope to have made you as proud as you made me. The world just lost a real one. May Allah pardon you, forgive your sins and grant you the highest level of paradise. #MalikB #TheLegendaryRootsCrew

Une publication partagée par Black Thought (@blackthought) le 29 Juil. 2020 à 12 :10 PDT

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📸 by @tdoteric A lighter tale of Malik Abdul Basit As a true Bol from philly you know that one’s oil game HAD to be on point. I came in this game rockin oils since age 9. Most of yall joke about me smelling like Breakfast (thx Kravitz clan) but long before my vanilla combo mastery my true graduation from basic Frankincense & Myrrh morphed into new exotic philly jawns like “Mecca Musk” & “Somali Rose” & “Egyptian Musk” & yeah…..”Money On the Street” & “Hug My Neck Aphrodisiac” Malik introduced me to that world. Even before Malik was in the Roots —-he was my oil guru. IYKYK...there is no panic like the last drop of oil w no re-up in the future. I been bugging Malik for my “$OTS” re-up. Paged him 911 (ask your parents kids) he was hard to catch but I knew I had some leverage bait this time: these were my last days interning at #RuffhouseRecords. I was everyone’s plug for all free cd’s/lp’s & especially Kriss Kross posters for anyone’s younger sibling or cousin Tim Dog’s sophomore Do or Die just came out (his “I Get Wrecked” single w KRS made brief noise for a sec) & I had 6 songs from the not yet released Cypress Hill “Black Sunday” lp——that was just enough to garner a “word? BET!” confirmation from Malik to tell me that him & Mussa (remember the cat dozing off watching TV in our “Distorion” vid? Him) would scoop me in a half hour. Confused I thought it was gonna be an even exchange (having paid him upfront weeks ago at a show I thought he was gonna drop it off——ha ha ha yeah ok They arrive to my west philly house and then Malik breaks the news to me: we gotta take a trip to “Norf” to get the oils. I wasn’t planning on this. But oh well. It was 3pm. Malik told me the particular fragrance I dug was a mixture of 3 import oils from Saudi Arabia (his parents often taught school there) my dad was already on his cynic “fool me once….” bag with Malik from a previous sale: “that boy tried to hustle me with Blue Nile that wasn’t all the way Blue, I know Johnson’s baby oil rebranded when I smell it”)——Malik told me we’d have to run to grab 2 oils & then West Oak Lane for the other oil, & then to South Philly so he can mix em together. Uh (checks Swatch) ok.

Une publication partagée par Questlove Froman, (@questlove) le 29 Juil. 2020 à 6 :47 PDT