The Roots drummer and frontman reflects on the past 50 years to find the connections between Black identity, American politics, and the music that shaped him.
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the musician and DJ best known for fronting the band The Roots, celebrates the release of his latest book today. Titled Music Is History, the book examines the past 50 years of music in America and how it overlaps with both the country's political evolution and Questlove's personal story.
Tracking musical history from 1971 (Questlove's birth year) through today, the book is described as follows: "Music Is History moves fluidly from the personal to the political, examining events closely and critically…and encouraging readers to do the same. Whether he is exploring how Black identity reshaped itself during the blaxploitation era, analyzing the assembly-line nature of disco and its hostility to Black genius, or remembering his own youth as a pop fan and what it taught him about America, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapestry."
This past summer, Questlove's documentary film Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival had a limited theatrical release and is now available to stream on Hulu. The Roots have been serving as the in-house band The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014, and Questlove served as one of the producers of Hamilton's Broadway cast album. The Roots can additionally be heard on Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2016 Hamilton Mixtape album.
Questlove previously authored the books Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove, Creative Quest, and Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation.
For more information, or to purchase Music Is History, click the link below
