Tunde Adebimpe - Thee Black Boltz

Tunde Adebimpe — Thee Black Boltz

Limited edition clear with black & white vinyl

Solo album from the co-founder, co-vocalist and songwriter for TV On The Radio

For the last 24 years, Tunde Adebimpe has largely been known as the co-founder, co-vocalist and principal songwriter for TV On The Radio. The mostly-black, art-rock band triumphed through two decades of volatile cultural change to become one of the most beloved, enduring and influential groups from New York City's early-2000s rock scene. Though Tunde's poetic songwriting and transparent, towering vocals are central to the band's dissonant sound, TV On The Radio, has and always will be a collaboration between a group of singular musicians.

Tunde's personal story exists on a parallel path, as a sort of creative polymath. He is a musician but also an illustrator and painter. He's a former animator and one-time stop-motion filmmaker. He is a television and film actor. And now he is also a solo artist, with his first-ever formal solo album, Thee Black Boltz (Sub Pop, 2025).Tunde initially conceived of the album in 2019, while TV On The Radio was on a break. Two years later, as the world was emerging out of the global Covid pandemic, he started to put ideas down on paper; specifically, a notebook, which captures a free-thinking mix of words, illustrations and ideas. It is how Tunde begins most of his projects. Included in this notebook was a list of musical references and visual sketches that constituted what he calls, "mixtape of emotions the music could evoke. A feeling map of sorts." He started capturing those ideas in 2021 with the help of multi-instrumentalist Wilder Zoby (Run The Jewels), with whom he shares a studio with in Los Angeles.

A child of Nigerian immigrants who came to America for a better life, Tunde split his youth between Nigeria and Pittsburgh. His father was a medical professional who loved to doodle and draw, and in doing so, ignited a passion for visual art in his children. "I remember the first time I saw that he could draw, like really draw," Tunde remembers, "it was like he revealed some superpower. From then on, I was always doodling and he was very encouraging."

Thee Black Boltz is not a TV On The Radio album. But in a lot of ways, the excitement of doing something on his own for the first time ignited a similar spark in him as the early TV On The Radio days. The songwriting process is the same, he says, but with his TVOTR bandmates, Tunde knows he doesn't always have to complete his ideas. "I've been doing this thing with this group of people for so long, that I can just have a vague sketch of a concept and I know Jaleel or Kyp will have five brilliant ideas on where it can go. But for Thee Black Boltz, I didn't have that scaffolding to hang on. That was both terrifying and exhilarating."

 

1. Thee Black Boltz

2. Magnetic

3. Ate The Moon

4. Pinstack

5. Drop

6. ILY

7. The Most

8. God Knows

9. Blue10. Somebody New

11. Streetlight Nuevo

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it