Black Thought has been a great rapper for many, many years. He’s a founding member of the Roots, whose debut album Organix turns 25 this year, and his precise and athletic delivery has always been a huge part of that group’s appeal. If you’ve ever seen the Roots live, you have seen Black Thought do amazing things. And he’s long been a guest-verse assassin, too. But he’s never really gone solo until this moment.

Until now, the closest thing to a solo project that Black Thought has ever recorded is The Live Mixtape (JB Edition), a collaboration with the DJ and producer J. Period that he released in 2015. But that wasn’t exactly a solo affair, and anyway it was kind of a lark — a James Brown tribute that the pair recorded live onstage. Streams Of Thought, Vol. 1, Black Thought’s new solo EP, is something else.

After Black Thought did his absolutely staggering live freestyle with Funkmaster Flex last year, the demand for a proper solo album must’ve been through the roof. And now we have this five-song EP that Black Thought recorded with the veteran North Carolina producer 9th Wonder. The EP features guest appearances from Rapsody, Styles P, and KIRBY. But the real joy is just in hearing Black Thought go in for an extended period of time. Stream the EP below.

Streams Of Thought, Vol. 1 is out now on Human Re Sources.