På Grammy Awards var The Roots-rapparen Black Thought en av artisterna som medverkade under “HIPHOP50”-hyllningen på galan. Nu teamar han även upp med BET för att hylla hiphopkulturens jubileum under året, med freestyle-videon “Love Letter To Hip Hop”. I ett uttalande till Rolling Stone säger Black Thought:

“This is a Love Letter to Hip Hop for me because Hip Hop is the love of my life. No matter what medium that it is that you’re working in, if you’re painting a picture, if you’re writing a book, if you’re writing a song, those works of art that resonate the most are when you actually pour your true self into it.”

“I remember a time before hip hop and it’s something that we need to cherish and appreciate and not take for granted because it’s not guaranteed. Even though it’s always been there for people for the past few generations, it’s not guaranteed that it’s going to always be there if we don’t, you know what I’m saying, treat it the way we’re supposed to and continue to pour ourselves and to invest into it in an authentic way.”

I texten hyllar Black Thought artister som Grand Wizzard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash, JAY-Z, Diddy, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B och TakeOff. Han lägger bland annat följande rader:

“We rose to become entire ecosystems/ It’s wild to think about how long the people have listened/ 50 years down the line we could spark this/ My eternal beloved Hip Hop/ Is where our hearts live and that’s word.”