Questlove on the Odd Way a Song by the Police Helped Him Find His African Roots

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In this exclusive excerpt from Questlove's fascinating new book, the Roots drummer writes how an old song by The Police informed his discovery of his African roots.

Questlove breaks down how he discovered his ancestry from Alabama. This trace is a metaphor that explains the overall point of the book: the interconnectedness of humanity. History and humanity is what creates culture, which is why storytellers like Quest are imperative for the future.

In the summer of 1981, I shot a movie. Maybe that’s a little grandiose. I went to a performing arts school, and the director visited our class and selected a few students to star in a movie he was making called West Side Store about a group of kids trying to open up a neighborhood bodega.

There’s one more musical footnote to “Does Everyone Stare” that has ensured that it’s followed me around my whole life. Sting has made a glorious career out of harmonizing the wrong notes with himself. It’s done so brashly, with such a Pee-Wee Herman–style I-meant-to-do-that defiance that it’s actually how I craft my notes now for the rest of the Roots whenever we cover a Police song on.

I can relate the history dispassionately. That’s something to practice. It’s important. If you let all your emotions in all the time when you’re giving historical accounts, you may find yourself too often overcome by sorrow, rage, and wonder. But during the show, and after it, it hit me hard. In 1860, the international slave trade had been banned for more than a half-century, which didn’t stop slavers from making the trip.

 

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Although I'm not familiar with Questlove, this is a well written and interesting autobiography.

Well that’s nice , I liked sting too

Those white boys sure could rock

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