is best known as drummer and musical director of Grammy Award winning band . He has produced for countless artists including D’Angelo, Jay-Z and Amy Winehouse while acting as creative powerhouse for singers like Erykah Badu. Not only is he a leader of modern music, the Philadelphian is one of the most noted storytellers and enigmas in hip-hop.
Questlove is set to play a DJ set for Shoe Shine 8.5, a combined art show and concert, Oct. 5 at in Denver. In advance of his performance, we’ve compiled a list of his best quotes that display both his genius and uproarious humor.
10) Questlove’s adoration of Prince as a musician and cultural icon is apparent through his music and interviews. Itap natural then, that is hilarious:
“I was making noise, but it wasn’t exactly speech. It was a kind of gurgling noise, alternating with high-pitched squeals.”
9) Widely known for his “pie in the face” (as he calls them) moments with his favorite celebrities, the socially adept side of Questlove is never too far off. in the George Zimmerman case with sobering reality:
“Remember how nice everyone was post–September 11? Eerie. Almost surreal. Like everyone is acting “too nice,” and I don’t know how to process that. Then there are people that are acting like nothing happened. (“Hey, Quest, where is Dave Chappelle at!?”) It was just one of those days that didn’t feel normal to me.”
8) Not only a music connoisseur, Questlove :
“I use Sushi spots as litmus tests for people. Thatap right: a 90 min dinner can tell me a person’s entire life experience without them saying a thing.”
7) Even being such a notable figure in hip-hop and the music industry as a whole, Questlove is always one to show his humility to past and present greats. He does this through his many DJ sets:
“I prefer to unwind by deejaying. I learned that from Mike D from the Beastie Boys. After a show, he would DJ. Once I saw that, I wanted to do that. And now deejaying is like my lifeline. I love the power it represents.”
6) roller skating with Prince, having dinner with a roomful of people that included Scott Storch, Busta Rhymes and OJ Simpson, the drummer has been present for some of the most powerful moments in hip-hop. Particularly the famed 1995 Source Awards that ignited the east coast/west coast rivalry.
“I have a lot of those “Forrest Gump”-I was there moments.”
5) Because he is the hip-hop godfather to all geniuses in the game, Questlove minced no words in response to a tweet from Justin Timberlake after seeing JT and Jay-Z’s Philly run of the Legends of the Summer tour:
Legends>>Throne RT : Thanks for coming to the show tonight, fam!!! See you in NY! Philly was crazy tonight!! JT
— Questlove Jenkins (@questlove)
4) Because even the most genius of musicians get star struck when running into superstars, in an elevator is shamelessly comical:
“I let out the most high-pitched, blood-curdling scream you can imagine. I dropped the soda and ran so fast that I went past the elevator three times.”
3) Heralded for his music prowess and crazy abstract party selections, itap hard to imagine Questlove behaving like any average music listener. In an his love for Shazam:
“But these days, my version of taping something off the radio is Shazam. I have no shame in Shazaming any song that I hear in a nightclub. I have no shame whatsoever. DJs are always trying to be sly about it, hiding their iPhone on the lowest light possible so you can’t see them.”
2) A self-proclaimed music snob and easily described as a culture nerd, Questlove has written “Mo’ Meta Blues,” a book about his life and times in the music industry. In , he explains the Roots longevity in comparison to other bands of stature and why there is no snorting ants off of sidewalks a la Ozzy Ozbourne:
“We’d rather binge on watching the ‘Lost’ box set instead of having nine-woman orgies on the bus.”
1) The Roots have caught the attention of the mainstream due in large part to a residency on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Minnesota Republican representative Michele Bachmann was a slated guest on Fallon and it was Questlove’s decision to play Fishbone’s “Lyin Ass Bitch” as her walk-on music and a political firestorm ensued. Of the controversy Questo ,
“Blocking 3,500 tea party extremists in a three day period is no fun, especially when you’re a drummer dangerously close to carpal tunnel. In the end, was it worth it? Absolutely not.”
Bonus: In late March of 2010, in response to a question from this writer about Black Thought being on Twitter in an effort to introduce an MC to the phenom who had never heard him rap, Questlove responded:
“you aint get the wacka flocka memo? dictionary rap aint what’s poppin.”
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Ru Johnson is an arts and culture music writer living in Denver. You can follow her on
