Friday, August 18, 2017

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Mo'Meta Blues ****

Questlove has a nice casual writing style, first demonstrated in his liner notes for Roots albums. Mo'Meta Blues is a memoir of sorts, although the best parts are when he uses an incident from his life as a springboard for more abstract musings. He has insightful views on the music business and on the role of hip-hop in culture. He relates fun anecdotes about meeting other artists, most notably a visit to Stevie Wonder's hotel and roller skating with Prince. Tantalizing record reviews too.

The book is full of interesting asides; in the first few pages, for example, he refers to the Roots as "the last hip-hop band" because:
Twenty-five years ago, rap acts were mostly groups. You had Run DMC and the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, ... but today it's all solo acts.
Another one from near the end: The day after Michael Jackson died, the Roots played his songs on the Tonight Show.
Usually, they would be too expensive to use, but there is a special stipulation, a death memorandum, that grants a 48-hour grace period where songs can be used for a standard rate for news purposes.
The book starts to feel fragmented as it approaches the present, and even includes a chapter from the co-writer admitting that "there's less perspective" (part of the meta- from the title).

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