På onsdagskvällen strömmade kondoleanser in via sociala medier efter att Black Thought och Questlove bekräftat att tidigare The Roots-medlemmen Malik B lämnat jordelivet. Malik Abdul Basit var med från att gruppen grundades i Philadelphia i slutet av 80-talet fram till 1999 års album “Things Fall Apart”. De flesta minns Malik B för sina verser på gruppens genombrottsalbum “Do You Want More?!?” från 1995 och året senare med hyllade “Illadelph Halflife”. Under 2000-talet släppte han enstaka projekt, mest notabla var albumen “Street Assault” (2005) och “Unpredictable” (2015) med producenten Mr. Green.
The Roots-kollegan Black Thought skriver i sociala medier:
“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.”
Malik B blev 47 år gammal.
