The Upcycled Self (Autographed) Tariq Trotter

Tariq Trotter . . . could be hip-hops Dostoyevsky. Like the Russian novelist, Mr. Trotter has refined literary fire from the soulful furnace of pain and suffering.The New York Times

From one of our generations most powerful artists and incisive storytellers comes a brilliantly crafted work about the artand warof becoming who we are.

upcycle verb

upcycle p-s-kl

: to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item

: to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)

Today Tariq Trotterbetter known as Black Thoughtis the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots, and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers the culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his familys home. The years that followed are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire.

In The Upcycled Self, Trotter doesnt just narrate a riveting and moving portrait of the artist as a young man, but gives readers a courageous model of what it means to live an examined life. In vivid vignettes, he tells the dramatic stories of the four powerful relationships that shaped himcommunity, friends, art, and familyeach a complex weave of love, discovery, trauma, and loss.

But beyond offering the compellingly poetic account of one artists creative and emotional origins, Trotter explores the vital questions we all have to confront about our formative years: How can we see the story of our young lives clearly? How do we use that story to understand who weve become? How do we forgive the people who loved and hurt us? How do we rediscover and honor our first dreams? And finally, what do we take forward, what do we pass on, what do we leave behind? This is the beautifully bluesy story of a boy geniuss coming of age that illuminates the redemptive power of the upcycle.