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blevins's review
4.0
I've never listened to a single Roots album, don't listen to hip-hop, neo-soul, never watched a single episode of the late night TV show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that features The Roots as the house band...yet I read and enjoyed this music stuffed memoir by Roots drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. I love music and Questlove has dedicated himself to so many kinds of music that it makes me feel a bit lazy and narrow minded even though my combination of albums/CDs/cassettes number over 5,000 if I added them all up and I've been obsessed with bands as far ranging as Styx to Test Department. Questlove reaches a whole nother level and he takes us into his childhood and the way music and memory are connected and the different paths the Roots have gone on through the years. Only thing I didn't care for at all in this book was the footnotes of the band's manager that jumps in way too much--I don't really care what his thoughts are, write your own book!--and the oddly placed e-mails from the co-writer to himself regarding the book's progress. Those two things almost got the book knocked down another star and then I just skipped them to get back to Questlove's life stories and obsessions over music. I did listen to Roots music by watching videos as I read the book which helped give some framework to it and even watched a bunch of great "Freestylin' with the Roots" segments from the TV show. That's kind of nice when you can check out visuals to go w/ what you are reading if you aren't that familiar with a band.
hreed7's review
5.0
It was practically a foregone conclusion that this book would appeal to me: Questlove's name-checking, crate-digging, heart-on-sleeve persona resonates with what I find to be the very best parts of life. It FLOORED me that he played in a band in high school with two heavyweights of contemporary jazz, Joey DeFrancesco AND Kurt Rosenwinkel (who I've listened to all morning in homage.) I ate up his story about rollerskating with Eddie Murphy and Prince. I loved cruising through his acknowledgements and seeing names of less well known people that I admire: Harry Weinger, Nelson George, Chris Dave. Whether it was people I like or music I appreciate, Ahmir's weaving of cultural touchstones into his own story made this book a treasure.
I also appreciated the occasional philosophizing, which was sparse enough to keep the book cantering, but not strictly fluffy. His invocation of the doppler effect--in which sounds become higher frequency and more shrill as they approach--as a memory for metaphor was fresh to me, and resonant.
Anyways, if you like questlove then you don't need this review to tell you you'll like his book. If you haven't heard of him, his story cuts a crow's path through the rise of hip hop and lands improbably on late night television, and path which in this book is well-charted.
I also appreciated the occasional philosophizing, which was sparse enough to keep the book cantering, but not strictly fluffy. His invocation of the doppler effect--in which sounds become higher frequency and more shrill as they approach--as a memory for metaphor was fresh to me, and resonant.
Anyways, if you like questlove then you don't need this review to tell you you'll like his book. If you haven't heard of him, his story cuts a crow's path through the rise of hip hop and lands improbably on late night television, and path which in this book is well-charted.
jaimeleahhh's review
5.0
I enjoyed every single page of this book. The first half is stronger, based on Ahmir's ability to look at the past with fresh eyes, something that the book actually addresses. But the last three pages are so beautifully written - I didn't want to stop reading.
dsullivan's review
4.0
Questlove is a huge music geek. Even though our tastes in music are vastly different, I could relate to his passion. He loves the trivia of musical connections, discovering new music, and analyzing (probably over-analyzing) songs and albums. The analysis includes what the music has been influenced by, what is its motivation, what it says about the time that it came out, and where it is pushing the future. I found all of this interesting, as well as the biographical elements and the anecdotes of fame.
What I didn't find interesting were a couple of chapters in the first half of the book that were just lists of songs that stick out from his childhood and other chapters sprinkled throughout the book that were emails from his co-writer to his editor. I think the book would have been better off without both of those.
I saw that some reviewers didn't like the footnotes from The Roots' manager, Rich. I actually enjoyed most of those because it provided another perspective on the things that Questlove was talking about.
I'd recommend this book to people who are interested in the music industry, whether you like the music of The Roots or not.
What I didn't find interesting were a couple of chapters in the first half of the book that were just lists of songs that stick out from his childhood and other chapters sprinkled throughout the book that were emails from his co-writer to his editor. I think the book would have been better off without both of those.
I saw that some reviewers didn't like the footnotes from The Roots' manager, Rich. I actually enjoyed most of those because it provided another perspective on the things that Questlove was talking about.
I'd recommend this book to people who are interested in the music industry, whether you like the music of The Roots or not.