5 Reasons You Should Buy Questlove’s New Book, ‘Hip-Hop Is History’ – The Vacaville Reporter

July 2, 2024

“Hip-Hop is History,” by Questlove with Ben Greenman. (Macmillan/TNS)

Chris Hewitt | (TNS) Star Tribune

“Hip-Hop Is History” by Questlove could be one of the most expensive books of the year.

I’m not talking about the book itself, which costs $30 in hardcover, but the music you’ll buy with it.

Even before you get to the 16-page appendix titled “Hip-Hop Songs I Actually Listen to,” which lists hundreds of classics and well-known songs, the chatty but informed book begs to be read alongside your Spotify playlist, your vinyl collection, YouTube, or wherever you consume music.

Questlove, bandleader of the “Tonight Show,” Oscar-winning filmmaker (“Summer of Soul”) and sought-after awards presenter, is also a chummy, smart writer who knows what he’s talking about because he and his band, the Roots, have lived it. (The book was co-written with Ben Greenman, who deserves credit for always making it sound like Quest.)

Here are the reasons why you should get it:

1. Questlove knows every song. The musician recalls five-hour listening sessions dating back to his youth in Philadelphia. As he turned pro, he developed a sensibility that is generous and opinionated. So you believe him when he talks about, for example, why Jay-Z’s collaboration with Dr. Dre failed (Jay-Z “sucked the air out of a room… So he needed a musical accompaniment that was boring. He needed butter to spread on it.”)

2. Questlove spills the beans (a little). There are a few disappointing bits where the man born Ahmir Thompson alludes to gossip he doesn’t want to divulge, but not a lot. He recounts his maneuverings while imploring stars to sing “50 Years of Hip-Hop” at the 2023 Grammy Awards (the book also marks that anniversary). And even before the recent evidence of Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Diddy’s horrific behavior, it’s clear that Questlove didn’t like him as a musician or as a person. Of the hundreds of songs listed on “Actually Listen To,” none are by Diddy; there’s only one by Kanye West.

3. Questlove delves deep. He’s thought deeply about sounds that most of us barely notice, so the book often feels like a glimpse into his busy mind. A huge Wu-Tang Clan fan, he writes, “On RZA’s Wu-Tang productions, I came to the conclusion that he hadn’t read the manual of the equipment he used, either figuratively or literally, and that the amateurishness of the execution was part of the charm.”

4. Questlove is full of entertaining surprises. When the book comes to Dre’s album The Chronic, Questlove admits he was suspicious, but “I couldn’t quite turn my back on the first single, ‘Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,’ because one of its samples (the chorus) was from Congress Alley, a 1970s band formed by two people named my parents.”

5. Questlove knows everyone. That’s why he can casually share anecdotes about Solange Knowles, Common, Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar, and others. The guy’s phone has a massive contact list, and this entertaining book feels like flipping through them and saying, “OK, Quest, what can you tell me about Nas?”

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Hip-hop is history

By: Questlove with Ben Greenman.

Publisher: AUWA, 340 pages, $30.