Ahmir Khalib Thompson, better known as Questlove or ?uestlove, is the drummer of the hip hop group The Roots. You might think that a Questlove Top 4 will be a list of my top 4 favorite recordings, but that’s certainly not the case.
Questlove
Questlove is one of my favorite drummers and he has for sure influenced most hip hop and R’n'B drummers out there. Apart from playing with The Roots, he’s been working with many of the biggest soul and R’n'B acts. He’s also a producer and has produced artists like Common and D’Angelo.
As I stated earlier, I’m not gonna list my favorite records where he appears, instead I’m gonna make a list of 4 great Questlove moments. Feel free to add your own in the comments of this post! Here we go!
#4: The Roots at Berns, Stockholm
To be honest with you, I wasn’t sure if I should put this one on the list. The reason for this is that I wasn’t there. I know, shame on me, but I think I had a gig that night. Anyway, I have friends who were there and they have told me about it, and this is why i decided to put it on the list. You can see it as a good warm up for the other three. Here goes:
The concert is about to start, and all lights are out. All of a sudden you see a flashlight moving on stage, my friends think it’s a stage technician taking care of something. The flashlight makes a stop at the drum set, and is then switched off. Then the magic begins. For a few minutes Questlove (in case you haven’t guessed already, he was maneuvering the flashlight) plays a simple, heavy groove and according to my friends it doesn’t get any better than that. Him alone on stage playing a bad ass drum groove. I believe them.
Later this concert, Questlove gets up from his drum set and walks up to the front of the stage. He pulls out his Afro pick comb, always tightly secured in his fro, grabs a pen and start signing it. The crowd goes crazy and waits for him to toss it out. Instead of throwing it though, he fixes his hair up a bit, puts it back in his fro and walks back to the drums. That’s star quality right there!
#3: Dave Chapelle – White People Can’t Dance Sketch
I discovered comedian Dave Chappelle a few years ago, and really like his stuff. This sketch is one of my favorites, and the best part, Questlove is in it! Enjoy!
#2: Questlove shopping in Stockholm
Questlove Designed Nike Sneakers
Questlove has a passion for sneakers, and he actually got the chance to design a pair of his own, which you can see on the right. Number two on the list relates to this passion, more precisely to a visit in a sneakers store in Stockholm.
Swedish newspaper DN På Stan also made a list last week, 100 great, funny and memorable Stockholm moments 2001-2010. (full list in Swedish) Here’s #67 on the list:
The Roots drummer ?uestlove walks into the store Sneakersnstuff on Åsögatan during one of the bands’ Stockholm visits. ”Show me all your size 14’s!”, he says. The staff dig out almost every pair of size 14′s in stock. ”I’ll take ’em!”, he says. In total, 34 pairs of shoes.
I just love this story, makes me wish I would have been there to see it. I wonder how he managed to bring them all back to the States?
#1: The price is right failure horn
Alright, time for number one! I’ve been following Questlove on Twitter for about a year now, and he really is active there, twittering a lot. Of all his tweets I’ve read, I have one favorite in particular.
I have tried to find the tweet in question, but since he has written almost 12.000 of them, it’s hard. It’s not a problem though, what he wrote was something similar to this:
A friend of mine split up with his girlfriend and his Facebook page now states “is not in a relationship anymore”. Of course I had to comment with this:*
(*see video)
This is exactly my kind of humor, and that’s why this one’s number one on the list. Here’s, according to Questlove, what to play for your friends when they brake up with their girlfriends:
So there you have it, my Questlove Top 4 Moments list! Have any moments of your own? Share it in the comments section below!