Black Thought’s Verse for “Bird’s Eye View” Took 3 Minutes to Record Inside a Closet
Despite anchoring one of the best rap groups of all time and a career full of scene-stealing guest appearances with the likes of Big Pun, Common, and Pharoahe Monch, the Roots’ status sometimes overshadows Black Thought’s impressive individual abilities as an MC. Thankfully the Philly rapper had a chance to step aside from The Roots and get some well-deserved recognition when Statik Selektah asked him to spit a verse for his Extended Play album in 2013.
Statik’s pairing of Joey Badass, Raekwon, and Thought on “Bird’s Eye View” resulted in what HipHopDX described as “the most unlikely posse cut.” Choosing the song as runner up for Collaboration of The Year, DX called the song a “newly branded classic” and said that it “proved that great lyrics are timeless.”
After impressive leadoff performances from Joey and Rae, Thought comes out out of the gates swinging with venomous lines like, “It’s the elephant in the room, Created by a collision of the sun and the moon, My sonogram was an image of a gun in the womb.”
“He was in my crib for three minutes, he spit 32 bars.”- Statik Selektah
While there is assertiveness and hostility in his words, the verse is also one of of his most vulnerable in recent memory. Rapping “I am the living definition of improving the groove” one moment and “I’m astonishing, honestly my future looking promising, As my skin tone and a crystal clean onyx is” the next, Black Thought gave listeners an intimate peak into his troubled state of mind.
Rhyming over Statik’s haunting beat — which was intended for a Nas remix — Thought’s performance ignited a firestorm of praise on social media and sparked many debates over his place on Verse of the Year lists. And it only took three minutes to record.
During an appearance on the radio show Rap is Outta Control, Statik told hosts DJ Eclipse and D-Stroy, “From the time he got there, came in the crib and spit the verse and left….I looked at my phone and it was three minutes that went by. He was in my crib for three minutes, he spit 32 bars.”
Statik goes on to say that even though he had rapped double the expected amount, Thought wanted to give him an even longer verse. “I was on the way to a club actually and he texted me when I was on the bridge,” Statik told Rap is Outta Control. “He was like, ‘Yo my bad fam, I wish I could do more.’ I’m like, ‘You spit 32 bars!’”
“Created by a collision of the sun and the moon, My sonogram was an image of a gun in the womb.”- Black Thought
In addition to recording his verse in a matter of minutes, Statik explained in a Making the Beat video that both Joey Badass and Thought recorded their vocals inside of a makeshift booth in Statik’s closet — a method also used by Nate Dogg and Warren G to record “Regulate”. Just like any great artist, Thought didn’t let time limitations or lack of fancy gear dictate the quality of his output.
Despite murdering his appearance on Extended Play, Statik remains concerned that Black Thought still doesn’t get his due. “I honestly will fight this to the death,” he said towards the end of his interview with Rap is Outta Control. “He is the most underrated MC of all time.”
Hopefully his performance on “Bird’s Eye View” will change that.
You can connect with Black Thought on Facebook and Twitter @blackthought. You can connect with Statik Selektah on Facebook, SoundCloud, and Twitter @StatikSelekt
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