How a forgotten tape recorder led to Tunde Adebimpe’s debut album

Tunde Adebimpe’s debut solo album, Thee Black Boltz, had an unlikely origin: a break-in.

After someone stole hard drives full of demos from his garage, Adebimpe began to rummage through his old things, and he discovered a forgotten box of old 4-track cassette tapes the culprit had left behind.

“I got my 4-track recorder out — also in a box somewhere in the garage — and I just started going through those,” he says.

Eventually, Adebimpe recorded new demos, but he faced another hurdle: Record labels weren’t particularly interested in his solo material, but that mattered little to the co-founder of TV on the Radio.

“I don’t really care if anyone else is into it,” he says. “I just want to hear it and see it.”

His persistence paid off: The album eventually found a home with Sub Pop Records. The result is a collection that’s as introspective as it is inventive, tackling themes of love and mortality.

In this session, Adebimpe talks about his creative process; about how he juggles a myriad of creative pursuits, including directing, painting and puppeteering; and about remembering his late sister on Thee Black Boltz.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.