The Upcycled Self A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are

Trotter's new book, The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are.

His new memoir, The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are.

Trotter, a.k.a. Black Thought, on his new book, The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are.

And Trotter's new book, The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are, the Grammy awardwinning rapper and cofounder of the hip hop group The Roots examines the shame of that moment, as well as other harrowing events growing up in Philadelphia, intertwined with joyful moments like discovering music and meeting his fellow bandmate Amir Questlove Thompson.

Today we're talking to Grammy Award winning rapper and performer Black Thought, also known as Tariq Trotter, about his new memoir, The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are.

Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, on his new book, The Upcycled Self, a memoir on the art of becoming who we are.

You write about it in your book.

Essentially, it's about putting those parts of ourselves, of our past, you know what I'm saying, that are no longer going to serve us or no longer going to serve us in the same way to a different use, you know what I'm saying, to a better use.

It's a self-help memoir of sorts. Yeah, the art of becoming who we are.

It was really a cathartic sort of experience and more so than I'd expected.

It's about that armor that you know at one point in time it might it might serve as a defense mechanism. It might you know protect you but as we move through life and you get into different spaces you start to interact with different people and you know you're now you in these different dynamics they no longer service in the same way.

Um you know if if one person is able to see themselves and you know better understand themselves or better understand you know their their path their their lived experience if this is going to be you know an entree into someone else being able to start to work through their stuff and you know shed some of those layers of of armor that are no longer useful you know what I mean um those layers of of callous and and scar tissue then uh yeah then it's a win and I've already you know experienced that you know I've already had some of those conversations so I feel this book has already been helpful.

You know, essentially it's about putting those parts of ourselves, of our past, you know what I'm saying, that are no longer going to serve us or no longer going to serve us in the same way to a different use, you know what I'm saying, to a better use.

It was really, you know, a cathartic sort of experience and more so than I'd expected.

Our lives are our response to the call of our childhoods.

It's about confronting, you know, our demons, you know, head on.

So much of who I am. So much of my identity is associated with my Philadelphia-ness.

You put out an amazing book. Called The Upcycled Self.

You know, essentially it's about putting those parts of ourselves, of our past, you know what I'm saying, that are no longer going to serve us or no longer going to serve us in the same way to a different use, you know what I'm saying, to a better use.

It's a self-help memoir of sorts. Yeah, the art of becoming who we are.

And that's what made it, you know, just like this was my therapy. It was really a cathartic sort of experience and more so than I'd expected.

When you have it on the cue cards and you're reading it in a linear sort of way, I mean, it just hits different, man. It hits differently.

You know, essentially it's about putting those parts of ourselves, of our past, you know what I'm saying, that are no longer going to serve us or no longer going to serve us in the same way to a different use. You know what I'm saying? To a better use.

It's a self-help memoir of sorts. Yeah, the art of becoming who we are.

And that's what made it, you know, just like this was my therapy. It was really a cathartic sort of experience. And more so than I'd expected.

When you have it on the cue cards and you're reading it in a linear sort of way, I mean, it just hits different, man. It hits differently.

If one person is able to see themselves, better understand themselves, or better understand their path, their lived experience. If this is going to be an entree into someone else being able to start to work through their stuff and shed some of those layers of armor that are no longer useful, you know what I mean? Those layers of callus and scar tissue. Then yeah, it's a win.