''Streams of Thought, Vol. 2'' (also known as ''Streams of Thought, Vol. 2: Traxploitation'') is the second

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

by American emcee

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...

. It was released on November 26, 2018, by independent distributors Human Re Sources and Passyunk Productions. Produced entirely by

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...

, the EP is the sequel to '' Streams of Thought, Vol. 1'', released five months earlier.

Critical reception

''Streams of Thought, Vol. 2'' was met with positive reviews. Writing for ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' in December 2018, Riley Wallace praised Remi's production, calling it "reminiscent of classic

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

sessions", and concluded, "Though Salaam does little to push Black Thought outside of his comfort zone, it does little to distract from how solid this project is, and the lyrical depth and complexity of all nine tracks." In his

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...

-published "Consumer Guide" column,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

applauded the rapper for showing "how conscious a romantic lead's conscience can be" and wrote in summary that, "no longer hemmed in by album concepts or fusion-band masquerade, here’s where Tariq Trotter is freed to turn out kick-ass rap mixtapes and show off how much reading he does." Fellow critic Tom Hull, who had deemed the first volume as "half of a pretty good Roots album", said ''Vol. 2'' is the "second half of that Roots album even stronger, with no reason to miss the live band".

Track listing

*All tracks written by

Tariq Trotter Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...

and

; all tracks produced by Salaam Remi. Notes *Reek Ruffin is Black Thought's alias as a singer.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 EPs Black Thought EPs Albums produced by Salaam Remi