We’re losing receipts. As the naming of generations continues to slide down the Greek alphabet, some of the milestones and icons of our culture are in danger of being forgotten. “When I asked my 26 students, ‘How many of you know what [Michael Jackson’s Thriller] is, only eight of them knew what it was,” said Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (drummer of The Roots, producer, author, book publisher, DJ and Oscar-winning director of the 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul).
He’s reminiscing on his stint as an NYU adjunct professor while discussing his new Hulu documentary, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius): a deep dive into funk founder Sly Stone. “So, you almost have to explain Sly Stone as if everyone’s in first grade.”
As recently as five years ago, the only ways to learn about the legacy of Sly was to dig into author Joel Selvin’s Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History or my own There’s a Riot Goin’ On, about his 1971 masterpiece album of the same name. But in 2023, Questlove’s Auwa Books imprint published Sly Stone’s memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). And with Sly Lives!—through archival footage and commentary from D’Angelo, André 3000, Vernon Reid, Chaka Khan, the Family Stone and others—Questlove continues to leave breadcrumbs for future generations to learn about our mavericks of Black musical excellence.
“Some historians want to be the smartest guy in the room,” Questlove said recently, pausing his super-hectic schedule to speak with EBONY. “I’m not in that game. I’m in the game of making sure that we’re not being erased.”
EBONY: What are your thoughts about the “proper” amount of time between projects for artists? Sly Stone taking two years to follow up his hit album Stand! seemed like an eternity in 1971. Now artists like D’Angelo and Dr. Dre take over a decade.
Questlove: I make no bones about it. For every person that asks me about Lauryn Hill, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Dave Chappelle, Erykah Badu, Solange, SZA, D’Angelo and so on, that’s probably the creative, epigenetic, first-domino-falling aspect of Sly’s life that we all inherit. I believe there’s an epidemic happening, in a non Facebook-conspiratorial way, of unspoken fear.
Probably the reason why this film took two-and-a-half to three years was that it was so hard gaining the trust of people to let them see that our aim is true, in terms of them being open about their struggles. The reason I wanted to make this film is to let them know that they’re not alone. Dude, after the Oscars, I went through that shit for four months where it’s like, “This shouldn’t be happening to me. Make it stop.”
Imagine waking up every day just actively saying, “Please, make it stop. I can’t take this anymore.” That’s what the average artist feels. But because we’ve made the final destination [to be] success, riches, money and wealth, when we get it… Why are we having meltdowns? When you ask, like, are they trying to purposely cancel themselves? The answer is a resounding yes.
If Sly Lives! had a Blu-ray with director’s commentary, what scene would you want to comment on?
The night that Sly recorded the original version of “Stand!,” much like James Brown, Sly had enough power to make the label print him up a quickie acetate—which is the equivalent of, like, ‘gimme an MP3 copy real quick so I can put it up on SoundCloud.’ He takes the acetate down to Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Boulevard, which is one of the first clubs to adapt to what we now know as nightclub atmosphere, playing records and people dancing to it. He gives the DJ a copy of “Stand!” and they play it. They were OK with it; it wasn’t like excitement in the air.
Sly was really dismayed about it. He was with his ladyfriend and her crew, and they tell him, ‘You need a get-down part. A part of the song that makes us want to get down.’ What they were essentially talking about is the way that James Brown changed the game with “Cold Sweat,” the first time he ‘gave the drummer some.’ Breakbeats [in hip-hop] essentially is dropping it to where it’s just the drums alone, which is some African shit.
So, he immediately goes back to the studio at one in the morning, wakes the band up and says, ‘Meet me at the studio right now.’ They get up and he comes up with this ending and literally creates the end of “Stand!” as we now know it, with the surprise funk part.
Sly Lives! explores the burden of Black genius, including and aside from Sly Stone. Do you see an angle taking shape for your next documentary, about Earth, Wind & Fire?
My Earth, Wind & Fire approach is more about metaphysics. As Black people, historically, we’ve leaned into religion. I grew up with Christian elders that wasn’t too sure about Earth, Wind & Fire. Because they might sing like they came from the church, but they ain’t talking about Christianity. I was led to believe that that was some demonic stuff. ‘That looks like cult symbols [on EW&F album covers].’
Christianity kind of teaches you that God is outside of you, somewhere 12 zillion light years away. Whereas metaphysics teaches you that God is inside you, and everything that you don’t know, you already know. Like, your subconscious knows everything, so God’s inside you.
The Earth, Wind & Fire [documentary] is more about the relationship with Black people and emotions, because we invented cool the same way that we invented soul food. There’s a relationship between emotions that we don’t have yet, and that’s what the Earth, Wind & Fire [documentary] is going to explore.
