>> AND WHILE WE AWAIT THAT PROGRESS, NEXT WE TURN TO ONE OF AMERICA EAST MOST BRILLIANT LYRICISTS, TARIQ TROTTER OF "THE ROOTS" BETTER KNOWN AS BLACK THOUGHT.

THE GRAMMY WINNING ARTIST HAS WOWED AUDIENCES FOR DECADES.

SOME MUSIC CRITICS CONTEND HE'S ONE OF THE GREATEST RAPPERS OF ALL TIME.

NOW BLACK THOUGHT IS OUT WITH A MEMOIR EXAMINING A LIFE THAT BEGAN WITH TRAGEDY, BOTH HIS MOTHER AND FATHER WERE MURDERED.

THE BOOK IS CALLED "THE UPCYCLED SELF" AND HE DISCUSSES IT NOW WITH HARI SREENIVASAN.

>> CHRISTIANE, THANKS.

TARIQ TROTTER KNOWN AS BLACK THOUGHT TO MOST OF US WHO HAVE LISTENED TO HIM THROUGH THE YEARS.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS ON THIS BOOK.

I AM NOT SURPRISED THAT YOU'RE VENTURING OUT INTO THIS SORT OF WRITTEN WORD EXPRESSION.

W WHAT DOES "THE UPCYCLED SELF" MEAN?

>> I'M FROM PHILADELPHIA FROM A SPECIFIC PLACE AND TIME THERE WHERE YOU HAD TO SORT OF MOVE THROUGH LIFE WITH A LAYER OF SCAR -- OF CALLUS, RIGHT?

OF SCAR TISSUE ALMOST AS A PROTECTIVE SORT OF THING.

YOU KNOW, AND IT SERVES A PURPOSE AT ONE TIME IN YOUR LIFE, OR AT LEAST IT MAY.

AS WE EVOLVE, AS WE MATURE, AS WE MOVE ON IN LIFE, YOU KNOW, THESE THINGS NO LONGER SERVE US IN THE SAME WAY.

SO "THE UPCYCLED SELF," IT SPEAKS TO THE WISDOM IT TAKES TO RECOGNIZE WHEN TO, YOU KNOW, LEAVE A THING IN THE PAST, TO ADAPT AWAY OR, YOU KNOW, TO MOVE FORWARD IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

>> YOU START OUT THIS BOOK WITH SOMETHING I SUSPECT ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO LEAVE IN THE PAST, AND IT'S A HORRENDOUS STORY OF YOU SETTING YOUR HOUSE ON FIRE, AS A LITTLE KID PLAYING WITH TOYS, BEING A CURIOUS KID AND STARTING A FIRE WITH YOUR TV.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THAT EVENT?

>> YEAH, YOU KNOW, THE BOOK ACTUALLY BEGINS WITH THE FIRE.

IT TOOK PLACE WHEN I WAS 6 YEARS OLD.

I BURNED MY, YOU KNOW, MY FAMILY HOME DOWN, AND YEAH, I THINK THE STORY TO FOLLOW THAT PUTS YOU INTO THE MIND OF A -- YOU KNOW, THE STORY IS TOLD IN THE SPIRIT OF THE PHOENIX.

I THINK I VERY MUCH EMERGED, YOU KNOW, FROM THE FLAMES.

SO IT BEGINS WITH THE FIRE, EVEN THOUGH THAT WASN'T MY FIRST TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE, EVEN AT THAT YOUNG AGE, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT IN THAT WAY, AND IT WAS A MOMENT -- IT WAS MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF A TIME AFTER WHICH, YOU KNOW, THINGS WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.

YOU KNOW, BUT TALK ABOUT JUST CURIOSITY, RIGHT, OF A CHILD AND THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF GRACE AND WISDOM THAT IT TOOK MY MOTHER, YOU KNOW, FOR HER TO EXTEND AND NOT COME HOME, YOU KNOW, AFTER HAVING LOST EVERYTHING AND SORT OF, YOU KNOW, LOSE IT.

HER MAIN CONCERN WAS THAT NO ONE HAD BEEN HURT.

AND YOU KNOW, I WASN'T REP REPRIMANDED, I WASN'T PUNISHED IN THE WAY THAT I'D EXPECTED TO BE.

AND I THINK THERE'S BEAUTY AND THERE WAS GREAT VALUE IN THAT, AND MY MOTHER SORT OF RECOGNIZING THAT IT WAS MY CURIOSITY, AND IT WAS MY, YOU KNOW, IMAGINATION THAT LED TO, YOU KNOW, TO THE EVENT.

SO SHE WAS ABLE TO HELP ME TO ENCOURAGE ME TO LEAN INTO THAT CURIOSITY AND INTO THAT IMAGINATION BY GETTING INTO THE ARTS.

>> SO WHAT DID THAT DO TO YOUR MOM, DO YOU THINK?

I MEAN, BECAUSE SHE HAD WORKED SO HARD TO -- YOUR FATHER HAD BEEN MURDERED EARLIER, AND SHE WAS RAISING YOU TWO, AND SHE'S BUILT ALL THESE THINGS.

SHE'S SAVED UP, SHE'S KIND OF BUILT SOMETHING NORMAL FOR THE TWO OF YOU, AS NORMAL AS CAN BE, AND THEN TO LITERALLY SEE IT GO UP IN SMOKE, WHAT DOES THAT DO TO HER PSYCHE?

WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT OVER TIME?

>> IT REALLY -- I MEAN, OVER TIME I CAME TO REALIZE JUST THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF STRENGTH AND, YOU KNOW, RESILIENCE THAT SHE HAD BECAUSE YOU THINK BACK, YOU KNOW, WHEN SHE LOST MY FATHER, MY FATHER WAS VERY YOUNG.

HE WAS MAYBE 26.

MY MOTHER WAS STILL VERY YOUNG.

THERE'S NO WAY THAT SHE COULD HAVE FULLY RECOVERED BECAUSE I THINK MAYBE -- MAYBE FOUR YEARS OR SO HAD PASSED, IF THAT.

SHE WAS -- THE WHOLE FAMILY WAS STILL VERY MUCH IN THE GRIEVING PROCESS.

>> YEAH.

>> YOU KNOW, SO THIS WAS SORT OF, YOU KNOW, BACK-TO-BACK LOSS IN THAT WAY THAT, YEAH, YOU KNOW, IT SHOULD HAVE AND COULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, BEEN DEVASTATING, BUT IT WASN'T IN MANY WAYS.

>> SO WHO WERE THE MEN THAT YOU LOOKED AT AS ROLE MODELS OR FATHER FIGURES DURING THIS IMPRESSIONABLE TIME?

>> MY EARLIEST EXAMPLES OF MANHOOD, YOU KNOW, ASIDE FROM WHAT I SAW IN MY GRANDPARENTS, LIKE IN MY, YOU KNOW, MY FATHER'S FATHER, WHO I SAW RARELY.

AND MY MOTHER'S STEPFATHER WHO I REFERRED TO AS MY GRANDFATHER.

THEY WERE SORT OF THE EXAMPLES.

BUT THEN THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, THE GENTLEMEN THAT WERE IN MY MOTHER'S LIFE, PEOPLE THIS MY MOTHER WOULD DATE.

MY MOTHER'S MALE FRIENDS, A COLORFUL CAST OF CHARACTERS.

YOU KNOW, SET MANY EXAMPLES.

SOME WERE GOOD EXAMPLES, SOME WERE BAD, YOU KNOW, BUT THAT WAS SORT OF WHAT I HAD, AND I HAD, AGAIN, MY OLDER BROTHER WHO FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES WAS AWAY FROM THE FAMILY BECAUSE HE SPENT, YOU KNOW, HE ESSENTIALLY CAME TO ADULTHOOD IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, GRADUATED.

>> YOUR MOM FIGURED OUT SOMEHOW THAT YOUR CURIOSITY ALSO TRANSLATED INTO THE ABILITY FOR YOU TO EXPRESS YOURSELF ARTISTICALLY, AND SHE PUSHED YOU INTO THAT, HOW DID SHE DO THAT?

>> I THINK THE EARLIEST INDICATION OF HER SORT OF UNDERSTANDING THAT THING, THAT DYNAMIC, WAS, YOU KNOW, JUST IN HER ENCOURAGING ME TO TAKE ART CLASSES, I THINK, IN THE SUMMER.

WELL, YOU KNOW, EVEN BEFORE I TOOK VISUAL ART CLASSES, MY MOTHER SHE SIGNED ME UP FOR CHOIR AND, YOU KNOW, SHE'D ALWAYS ENCOURAGE ME TO SORT OF LEAN INTO MUSIC.

WHEN SHE FOUND OUT THAT VISUAL ART WAS SORT OF MY THING, THEN SHE WAS REALLY JUST SUPER SUPPORTIVE OF THAT.

YEAH, SHE AT EVERY TURN SHE WOULD REGISTER ME FOR A THING, ANYTHING THAT WAS FREE I WAS DEFINITELY GOING TO DO, BUT YOU KNOW, ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT WE -- ANYTHING WE COULD AFFORD OR SAVE UP FOR, SHE ALSO WOULD ENCOURAGE.

>> YOU ALSO ARE, YOU KNOW, VERY VULNERABLE IN THIS BOOK, AND YOU WRITE ABOUT SOME VERY PAINFUL MOMENTS IN TERMS OF YOUR MOM.

YOU BASICALLY HAVE KIND OF A SCENE THAT YOU PLAY OUT, AND IT'S TO TRY TO ESSENTIALLY RESCUE HER FROM WHAT WOULD BE A CRACK HOUSE.

WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

>> I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IT WAS -- THAT MAY HAVE BEEN -- I MEAN, I THINK ABOUT LOW POINTS OF MY LIFE, YOU KNOW, DARK MOMENTS, YOU KNOW.

I DON'T KNOW THAT I'VE EVER BEEN AS RESIGNED, AS, YOU KNOW, JUST SAD AND DOWN, BAD AS I WAS IN THAT MOMENT.

IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK I'VE GRAPPLED WITH OVER THE YEARS.

IN THAT MOMENT, YOU KNOW, I WENT TO GO AND -- WE HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR MY MOM FOR A PERIOD OF DAYS, YOU KNOW A COUPLE OF DAYS HAD GONE BY, AND I TRACKED HER DOWN, AND SHE WAS IN A DRUG HOUSE, AND YEAH, YOU KNOW, I THOUGHT I WAS SHOWING UP LIKE THE CAVALRY.

I WAS THERE TO, YOU KNOW, SAVE MY MOM, TAKE HER OUT OF THIS PLACE, AND IT WAS THE HARD -- I HAD TO ACCEPTED THE HARSH REALITY OF JUST, YOU KNOW, THE MATTER OF FACT THAT SHE IN THAT MOMENT PREFERRED TO REMAIN, RIGHT?

SHE DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE.

SO I COULDN'T CONVINCE HER TO LEAVE, AND IT WAS -- YEAH, THAT WAS -- IT WAS JUST A SUPER GUT WRENCHING MOMENT FOR ME AS A YOUNG PERSON, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I WAS -- AS I RECALL, I MAY HAVE BEEN -- I WAS 14, YOU KNOW, 13 OR 14 YEARS OLD.

>> LATER IN THE BOOK, YOU'RE NOT LIVING WITH YOUR MOM.

YOU'RE SOMEPLACE ELSE.

HOW DID YOU FIND OUT THAT YOUR MOTHER WAS DEAD?

>> YEAH.

MY MOTHER WAS MURDERED WHEN I WAS -- I THINK I HAD JUST TURNED 16 OR SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 15 AND 16, MY MOTHER WAS MURDERED.

I MOVED OUT OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA TO MICHIGAN TO SOUTH FIELD, MICHIGAN, RIGHT OUTSIDE DETROIT TO STAY WITH AN UNCLE, ONE OF MY FATHER'S BROTHERS WHO I'D NEVER MET.

JUST BAZ THE STREETS HAD GOT SO CRAZY, MY NEIGHBORHOOD WAS CRAZY.

LOTS OF MY FRIENDS WERE BEING MURDERED, OR YOU KNOW, SENT TO PRISON.

IT WAS -- YOU KNOW, IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF 1980s DRUG CRACK EPIDEMIC AND EVERYTHING THAT SORT OF CAME ALONG WITH IT.

SO MY FAMILY HAD SENT ME TO MICHIGAN FOR A WHILE, AND YOU KNOW, IT DIDN'T WORK OUT IN MICHIGAN, BUT WHEN I CAME BACK TO PHILLY, IT WAS -- WE WERE -- WE HAD AGREED THAT I WOULDN'T RETURN TO MY OLD NEIGHBORHOOD.

I WASN'T LIVING WITH MY MOTHER, I WAS STAYING IN AN APARTMENT THAT MY GRANDPARENTS OWNED.

SHE WAS SORT OF LIVING HER LIFE AND I WAS LIVING MINE.

I HAD ZOOSCHOOL, I HAD WORK, DA AND WEEKS WOULD GO BY WITHOUT US SEEING ONE ANOTHER.

WE WOULD SPEAK ON THE PHONE.

I REMEMBER THERE WAS A PERIOD DURING WHICH A FEW DAYS HAD GONE BY WHERE NO ONE IN THE FAMILY HAD HEARD FROM OR SEEN MY MOTHER.

WHICH ALSO, AGAIN, WASN'T OUT OF THE NORM, RIGHT, OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS THROUGH THAT PROCESS OF ELIMINATION, MY MOTHER WAS IDENTIFIED AS A JANE DOE WHO HAD, YOU KNOW, TURNED UP IN THE MORGUE.

SO YEAH, AND THE WAY I FOUND OUT, I MEAN, IT WAS -- I DON'T KNOW, I THINK MY WHOLE FAMILY, YOU KNOW, EVEN BY THAT POINT HAD BECOME A BIT NUMB TO JUST EXPERIENCES THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE, YOU KNOW, LIFE SHATTERING, TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE FOR OTHER PEOPLE, WE WERE JUST SO USED TO LOSS AND GRIEF THAT I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY PULLED ANY PUNCHES.

I DON'T KNOW THAT -- I THINK, YOU KNOW, THEY -- MY AUNT, AS I RECALL, MY AUNT AND MY GRANDMOTHER, MY GRANDMOTHER AND HER SISTER JUST CONFIRMED WITH ME THAT THE BODY, THE JANE DOE THAT HAD BEEN, YOU KNOW, FOUND THAT WE SUSPECTED WAS MY MOTHER, YES, THAT WAS.

DOWN, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE ARRANGEMENTS.

IT WAS WILD.

I DON'T REMEMBER HAVING SHED A AERO TEAR DURING MY MOTHER'S DEATH UNTIL I SAW HER BODY BEING LOWERED INTO THE GROUND.

>> AT THAT TIME YOU'RE ALSO AT CREATIVE ARTS HIGH SCHOOL, A PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL FOR CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS, CAPA, WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE NOW, BUT WHO WAS IN THAT HIGH SCHOOL AT THE TIME THAT WAS I GUESS YOUR COMPETITION, YOUR CLASSMATES, YOUR PEERS THAT WERE ALSO PERFORMERS THAT WENT ON TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL?

>> I WENT TO THAT SCHOOL, WHICH WAS SORT OF PHILADELPHIA'S VERSION OF LAGUARDIA IN NEW YORK CITY, OR YOU KNOW, LIKE FAME.

IT WAS LIKE FAME OF THE TV SERIES AND THE FILM, AND YEAH, I WAS A VISUAL ARTS MAJOR.

THERE WERE JUST HAVEVERY MANY SINGERS AND INSTRUMENTALISTS THERE WHO WERE ALREADY FORCES TO BE RECKONED WITH IN THEIR OWN RIGHT.

QUEST LOVE, HE AND I MET THERE AND STARTED THE ROOTS.

BUT THERE WAS ALSO BOYS TO MEN WHO BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER AS BOYS TO MEN WERE PARTS OF OTHER MALE ENSEMBLES, JUST BEAUTIFUL, YOU KNOW, HARMONIES AND SORT OF -- WALKING THROUGH THE HALLS OF THAT SCHOOL MADE ME FEEL THE WAY IT MUST HAVE FELT, YOU KNOW, LIKE IN THE DAYS OF DOO WOP, ANY GIVEN MOMENT SOMEONE WOULD BREAK INTO SONG.

YOU'D TURN THE CORNER AND THERE'S BE JUAN AND NATE WORKING ON A HARMONY.

IT WAS A HUGE CONFIDENCE BUILDER FOR ME TO SEE KIDS I KNEW GOING ONWARD AND UPWARD.

>> HOW DID YOU AND AMIR QUESTLOVE FIND EACH OTHER?

>> WE FOUND EACH OTHER IN THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE WHERE WE WERE -- IT PROBABLY WASN'T THE FIRST TIME WE, YOU KNOW, WERE IN THE SPACE TOGETHER B, BUT WE WE LIKE TWO SHIPS, YOU KNOW, PASSING EACH OTHER AT SEA IN THE NIGHT USUALLY, AND IT WAS -- IN THIS INSTANCE, I THINK I WAS GOING.

I WAS ON MY WAY OUT ON A SUSPENSION, WHICH, YOU KNOW, I GOT SUSPENDED SOMETIMES.

I HAD DONE SOMETHING.

I WAS BEING SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL, SO I WAS IN THE OFFICE AND QUEST WALKED IN.

I THINK HE WAS BRINGING LIKE FLOWERS AND APPLES TO THE FACULTY, AND HE HAD ON A JACKET, A HAND PAINTED DENIM JACKET, WHICH WAS ONE OF MY SIDE HUSTLES AT THE TIME WAS I WOULD DO HAND PAINTED DENIM, LIKE, YOU KNOW, JEANS AND JACKETS, AND I WOULD SELL THEM REALLY OUT OF MY LOCKER.

SO THE JACKET THAT HE WORE THAT DAY AND I THINK MAYBE HIS NECKLACE TOO THAT HE HAD ON WAS SORT OF THE GATEWAY TO A DYNAMIC THAT WOULD GROW WHERE, YOU KNOW, I WAS ABLE TO PUT HIM ON TO PARTS OF -- ELEMENTS OF THE CULTURE, AND HIP-HOP MUSIC THAT HE HADN'T BEEN EXPOSED TO YET AND VICE VERSA, AND YOU KNOW, WE BECAME AN ODD COUPLE, AND WE REMAINED AS SUCH.

I THINK, YOU KNOW, MAYBE BOTH OF US HAD A DESIRE TO -- FOR BROTHERHOOD, TO EXPERIENCE THAT BROTHERHOOD.

EVEN THOUGH I HAD A BROTHER, I STILL HADN'T REALLY EXPERIENCED THAT DYNAMIC IN THE WAY THAT OTHER SIBLINGS HAD.

IT WAS GREAT, YEAH, TO HAVE A BROTHER AT THAT TIME.

AND THEN OUR RELATIONSHIP EVOLVED INTO SOMETHING ELSE WHEN IT BECAME A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP, AND IT EVOLVED INTO NOW WHAT IS A MARRIAGE.

WE WENT FROM BROTHERHOOD TO MARRIAGE.

>> I WONDER, YOU FORMED THIS GROUP, AT THE TIME IT WASN'T CALLED THE ROOTS, RIGHT?

>> BEFORE WE WERE CALLED THE ROOTS, WE WERE CALLED SQUARE ROOTS.

>> THAT'S RIGHT.

SO SQUARE ROOTS, AND I WONDER, THE SQUARE ROOTS, THE TYPE OF INFLUENCES THAT WERE MIXING TO MAKE THE TYPE OF MUSIC THAT YOU WANTED TO MAKE, AND PUT THAT IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE TIME BECAUSE WHAT WE SEE OF THE ROOTS NOW, WHICH IS A MIX OF SO MANY DIFFERENT INFLUENCES, IS NOT WHAT WAS KIND OF PLAYING ON THE STREETS AND THE CAR STEREOS AS YOU WERE GROWING UP AND THIS GROUP WAS STARTING.

♪ ♪ >> YEAH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A HUGE CHALLENGE BECAUSE NOT ONLY DID WE NOT, KWYOU KNOW -- DIDN'T LOOK, WE DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME AESTHETIC AS OUR CONTEMPORARIES AT THE TIME, NOR DID WE SOUND OR FEEL -- NOR DID LIKE OUR MUSIC SOUND OR FEEL LIKE THEIRS.

SO IN A MIXED TAPE, MIXED RADIO SHOW ERA, THE ROOTS MUSIC SORT OF STOOD OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB.

AND IT'S WILD THAT IT STOOD OUT IN ITS MUSICALITY, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE INSTRUM INSTRUMENTATION, AND IT JUST DIDN'T FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE STANDARD AT THAT TIME, IT JUST FELT MORE ELECTRONIC.

AND YOU KNOW, WE HAD TO FIGHT TO REPRESENT THOSE INFLUENCES, RITE, RI RIGHT, IN ORDER TO, YOU KNOW, EXPAND SORT OF THE PALATE OF THE CULTURE.

IT'S TAKEN SOME TIME, BUT I THINK OVER TIME THE ROOTS HAS BEEN HUGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR REESTABLISHING THAT STANDARD.

ANDD NOW YOU SEE FOLK WHO IS GO OUT TO TOUR, TO DO GIG, STUDIO SESSIONS, YOU RARELY SEE EVEN WITHIN THE REALM OF HIP-HOP PEOPLE WHO DON'T USE LIVE INSTRUMENTATION.

♪ >> IS THERE -- YOU HAVE BEEN IN SO MANY DIFFERENT FORMATS.

YOU WRITE ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU WERE A GRAFFITI ARTIST, AT THE TIME THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED VANDALISM DEPENDING ON WHO SAW YOUR WORK, RIGHT?

YOU'VE DONE VISUAL ARTS.

YOU'VE BEEN RHYMING FOR DECADES.

HERE YOU ARE WRITING A BOOK.

I MEAN, WHAT IS IT ABOUT SELF-EXPRESSION THAT KEEPS YOU WANTING TO TRY IT IN ANOTHER FORMAT?

>> IT'S THE CHALLENGE OF TAKING ON A NEW SORT OF FORMAT, WORKING IN A NEW MEDIUM OF ALLOWING, YOU KNOW, ONE DISCIPLINE TO INFORM ANOTHER.

IT KEEPS ME ENGAGED, AND YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS MEET,DOWN, FOLKS SOMETIMES IT'S ONE PERSON.

SOMETIMES IT'S TEN, SOMETIMES IT'S MORE.

IF THERE'S ONE PERSON THAT MY WORK, MY STORY HAS RESONATED WITH IN A WAY THAT, YOU KNOW, HAS GIVEN THEM ANY DEEPER INSIGHT INTO THEMSELVES OR INTO THEIR STORY, THEN IT'S WORTH IT.

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

AND THAT IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S A TWO-SIDED THERAPY, RIGHT?

LIKE THIS IS -- LIKE THIS IS -- THE WORK, THE PROCESS IS CATHARTIC FOR ME IN THAT WAY, SO YEAH, I JUST KEEP, YOU KNOW, ACCEPTING NEW CHALLENGES BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING THAT, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE THAT I'VE SEEN COME FROM PHILADELPHIA AND TRY A THING AND WIN, AND THOSE WHO HAVE WON, ALL THOSE MANY PEOPLE WHO I'M ABLE TO LIST WHO HAVE WON, THEY HAVE WON BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GIVE UP, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

SO YOU KNOW, I FEEL LIKE ANYTHING, ANY CHALLENGE THAT I TAKE ON AS LONG AS I STICK TO IT, I'M GOING TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT THROUGH TO FRUITION.

>> THE BOOK IS CALLED "THE UPCYCLED SELF", A MEMOIR ON THE ART OF BECOMING WHO WE ARE, AUTHOR TARIQ TROTTER, ALSO KNOWN AS BLACK THOUGHT FROM THE ROOTS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

>> THANK YOU, THIS HAS BEEN AWESOME, THANK YOU SO MUCH.