Angie: Increasingly members of the group have starting second careers (BT in film) and embarking on solo projects (The Philadelphia Experiment, Scratch’s new album). How is that working out with the dynamic of the group?
?uest: We’re sorta soloists anyway. That’s how we work. We spend so much time between records simply because he (BT) made a movie, he made a solo record, I did D’Angelo’s record, Common’s Record. We’re soloists so it’s just natural for us to do stuff like that.

A: On BET’s MC countdown, Thought cited Kool G Rap as a major influence. The song “Thought at Work” is obviously a nod to him. Did you guys ever consider working with G Rap on the song?
?: Definitely. He got up on stage with us at the Lincoln Center when we performed in New York, and that was a very poignant moment for Tariq to be on stage with his idol. It was a beautiful thing.

A: You’ve done a lot of collaborations. What other artists would you want to collaborate with at this point?
?: There’s nobody who I wouldn’t wanna collaborate with. Right now, I’m concentrating on our record (Phrenology). Common’s Record (The Electric Circus) and Joanne Osborne, and uhh . . . who else . . . Aries.

A: Beyond touring and the new album, what other projects do you guys have going on?
?: A Child. [laughs]. Naw, that’s all I know. I know the stage and I know the studio – and the stuff in between.

A: A touchy question that you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to –
?: Hit me.

A: The commercial . . . The long and drawn out thread on OKPlayer . . .
?: See, the thing is, whenever a group comes out that starts in a sub genre and they eventually rise to the top, I mean, their eventual rise to the top means that there’s going to be the possessive element. Like, “we had them first.” People think we blowing up. People think that just because they said “and the winner is The Roots,” that doesn’t mean nothing. We still get shut-off notices if we don’t pay shit off. We still go through drama. We still catch cases. You know what I mean – it’s not that ‘cause we do this for a living we’re immune to life’s problems and whatever and that whole sell out shit. That commercial alone saved the site this year. I was going to have to give up the site ‘cause I couldn’t afford just to keep paying people. I’m paying people out of my pocket. We don’t have no banners, no advertisement, no more store, no more shirts . . .

A: I guess people are under the impression that between all the scenes that you’re appearing in and touring, you’re everywhere . . .
?: Naw. We do that just so we can get to ground zero. Doing this show is gonna get us through . . . Oh God! Especially after April 15th. Stop playing! My taxes were gargantuan this year. They were jurassic. So, it’s like, the show that we did yesterday and the show we did today is probably going to set us [at] ground zero just after paying taxes. And then, there’s bills to pay everyday. So until we’re on 106 and Park number one, next to Li’l Bow Wow, which I don’t necessarily foresee in the future . . . We’re not that type of artist, so we gotta make some sort of money some way. People are going to crush a lot all the time, but it’s like, look, you know, I didn’t use a gun to get this money, so as far as I’m concerned it’s honest and I worked hard for it.

And he’s damn right. Leave these good men alone and let them do their thang.
I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to ask BT about his motivation to do Brooklyn Babylon, for all those of you who were wondering. You could probably find that out somewhere in the archives on the site, like ya’ll didn’t know already. Check out okayplayer.com for information on upcoming releases, tour dates, and regular okayplayer milling and much more.

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And Then There Were Three
Bridget Stokes ’04
An Oscars ceremony to go down in history occurred on March 24th, 2002. Halle Berry became the first Black actress to be awarded an Oscar for a leading role, and Denzel Washington became the second Black actor to receive an Oscar for a leading role after Sidney Poitier in 1963 for Lillies of the Field. It was a joyful day for America. Finally, Black actors were recognized for their work, when it has been historically so hard for people of color to achieve recognition in show business. I am glad for Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, but saddened that in the year 2002, at the 74th Oscars ceremony, there have still been only three Black actors to receive one of the highest awards in Hollywood.

I am saddened that in the year 2002, the careers of thousands of other Black actresses are still limited because of their color. Black actresses are often confined to bit parts and degrading roles such as that of the “video ho.” It is almost impossible for women of color to land lead roles in mainstream films, let alone to win Oscars for them.

I wonder what it means that Halle Berry should be the first Black actress to receive an Oscar for a lead role. She is a light-skinned biracial Black woman, who has been exotified by the media for most of her career. She is light enough, and her features are ambiguous enough that she is acceptable to mainstream audiences, and thus able to break out of the confinement of music videos and stereotypically Black films. Not to undermine her talent as an actress by any means, but it is not enough that she was recognized at the 2002 Oscars.
There are many barriers remaining for women of color in show business. There are still very few dark-skinned women who achieve recognition in Hollywood. There is an ‘ideal’ image of Black women sold to us by the media: the fair-skinned Black woman. I wonder, did Halle Berry break the glass ceiling for Black actresses, or is she a token Black woman who slipped through?

The Providence Journal quotes part of Berry’s emotional acceptance speech, “This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll…It’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color who now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.” In other words, it’s for all the women who deserved this award long ago.

Denzel Washington is also quoted in The Providence Journal, “Two birds in one night…Forty years I’ve been chasing Sidney. They finally give it to me.” I think Washington said it; ‘finally’ was the word of the evening. Finally Black actors have received some long-deserved recognition. But what happens now? Why has it taken so long for our society to move forward on these issues? Will we now begin to pay equal attention to Blacks in the media? I don’t know. But I know that I am not appeased because two Black people were finally recognized for something Blacks should have been recognized for long ago.