Only 47, too.

The Roots are so important to me, as a music fan but also as a person. The bands brand of nerdery, tinged with sophistication and streetness matched the version of myself that I wanted to be as a young man.

Malik was a key part of that. He seemed to reveal more of himself and his inner world than Thought. At times I didn't connect but on songs like The Spark, his words soothed me in the way that the presence of someone with a shared outlook on life soothes.

May he rest in peace and his family find support in their grief.