Tariq Luqmaan Trotter, known as Black Thought, is the lead MC of The Roots, the Philadelphia group he co-founded with drummer Questlove after the two met in 1987. Both his parents were members of the Nation of Islam; his father was murdered when he was an infant and his mother was murdered while he was in high school. He attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and studied journalism at Millersville University. The Roots released Organix in 1993 and went on to Do You Want More?!!!??!, Illadelph Halflife, Things Fall Apart and the Grammy-winning single "You Got Me," and have served as the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014. Trotter is widely regarded as one of the most technically accomplished rappers of his era, and his late-career run includes the Streams of Thought EP series and Cheat Codes with Danger Mouse.