A Guide to Questlove: 6 Books Featuring Questlove’s Writing

Ahmir Khalib Thompson, known professionally as Questlove or ?uestlove, is a Grammy award-winning musical tastemaker supreme, one of the world’s most beloved DJs, and a leading authority on the soul, funk, hip-hop, and R&B genres.

• Early life. The son of doo-wop crooner Lee Andrews and singer and dancer Jacqui Thompson, Questlove made his music debut at Radio City Music Hall at 12. At the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, Questlove joined forces with classmate Tariq Trotter (who performs as Black Thought) to form the hip-hop band the Roots, known for their fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and vintage soul.
• The Roots. The Roots’s fourth album, Things Fall Apart, propelled by the single “You Got Me,” was certified platinum and landed a coveted spot on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. Around this time, The Roots became a fixture on television, with memorable performances on Dave Chappelle’s classic sketch-comedy series Chappelle’s Show to the late-night talk-show circuit. In 2009, The Roots joined Late Night With Jimmy Fallon as the house band, with Questlove as the bandleader and frontman. When the comedian signed on to host The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon five years later, Questlove was named the show’s musical director.
• Other successes. Questlove’s eclectic career includes more than just performance—for instance, he was an executive producer for the original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton. He’s made tracks for many revered artists, including Al Green, John Legend, Erykah Badu, and Jay-Z, and hosts a weekly iHeartRadio podcast, Questlove Supreme. Questlove has also flexed his acting chops on television and the big screen in Pixar’s Soul (2020), Parks and Recreation, and Saturday Night Live. He currently teaches music courses at New York University.

To learn more about Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and the topics that make him tick, check out some of the books he’s written or contributed to over the past 15 years:

1. 1. Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies (2007). Questlove wrote the introduction to Brian Coleman’s exhaustive track-by-track oral history, in which he interviews the artists behind 36 iconic hip-hop albums from the 1980s and ’90s. Many of the records included are some of Questlove’s all-time faves.
2. 2. Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (2013). In his first memoir, Questlove peels back the curtain on his Philly upbringing and rise to fame. The renaissance man also offers some trenchant insights on the state of hip-hop and music criticism, reflects on and questions his staggering achievements, and regales us with celebrity stories—like the time he watched Prince roller skate at a Valentine’s Day party.
3. 3. Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation (2013). This eye-catching coffee-table book puts Questlove’s fandom for the classic dance show Soul Train on full display. Bolstered by more than 350 photos, he tells the story of host Don Corneilus’s long-running, groundbreaking dance show—which featured a who’s who from the worlds of soul, R&B, and funk.
4. 4. Something to Food About: Exploring Creativity With Innovative Chefs (2016). Questlove is a foodie who hosts “food salons” and, at one point, even owned his own fried chicken stand. In this collection of interviews, Questlove chats with 10 renowned chefs, sinking his teeth into their artistic process and drawing connections to his own work.
5. 5. Creative Quest (2018). What does it mean to be creative in the modern age? That’s the million-dollar question at the heart of this guide to finding and harnessing inspiration, in which Questlove imparts not only his own wisdom but lessons he’s learned from the likes of Björk, David Byrne, George Clinton, D’Angelo, and Ava DuVernay.
6. 6. Mixtape Potluck Cookbook (2019). To host the perfect dinner party, you need a good playlist and great food. Enter Questlove’s first cookbook, a collection of recipes from more than 50 of his famous pals, including Martha Stewart, Natalie Portman, Fred Armisen, and Q-Tip. In the unique cookbook, Questlove chooses a song that embodies each friend to accompany their dish.

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