Amir Questlove–Thompson

And, of course, once he's in the sly system, he invents kind of a thumping, plucking thing, which I guess most of your listeners would probably be familiar with, the way that the Seinfeld theme sounds, or the way that Flea plays in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, like with his thumb. Larry Graham from Sly and the Family Stone, a.k.a. Drake's uncle. Oh, really?

Yeah, Larry Graham is... Well, you know, Drake's name is Aubrey Graham. Drake's father is Larry Graham's brother. Anytime I show this movie to someone under the age of 30, they're like, wait, is that Drake's father? I'm like, no, that's his uncle. Because they look alike. But, yeah, he revolutionized a way to play bass. And so, I mean, pretty much he just invented the idea of, like, ear candy.

Yeah, Larry Graham is... Well, you know, Drake's name is Aubrey Graham. Drake's father is Larry Graham's brother. Anytime I show this movie to someone under the age of 30, they're like, wait, is that Drake's father? I'm like, no, that's his uncle. Because they look alike. But, yeah, he revolutionized a way to play bass. And so, I mean, pretty much he just invented the idea of, like, ear candy.

Yeah, Larry Graham is... Well, you know, Drake's name is Aubrey Graham. Drake's father is Larry Graham's brother. Anytime I show this movie to someone under the age of 30, they're like, wait, is that Drake's father? I'm like, no, that's his uncle. Because they look alike. But, yeah, he revolutionized a way to play bass. And so, I mean, pretty much he just invented the idea of, like, ear candy.

Like... A whole bunch of micro ideas inside of one three-minute song. And that's the genius of Sly Stone.

Like... A whole bunch of micro ideas inside of one three-minute song. And that's the genius of Sly Stone.

Like... A whole bunch of micro ideas inside of one three-minute song. And that's the genius of Sly Stone.

So what people don't know is that Sly basically considered dance to the music like his sellout song. Sly had released this really intelligent debut album called A Whole New Thing, which is probably my favorite album of its entire canon. But It was way too wordy, way too smart, way too nerdy, just so ahead of its time that only a certain few latched onto it.

So what people don't know is that Sly basically considered dance to the music like his sellout song. Sly had released this really intelligent debut album called A Whole New Thing, which is probably my favorite album of its entire canon. But It was way too wordy, way too smart, way too nerdy, just so ahead of its time that only a certain few latched onto it.

So what people don't know is that Sly basically considered dance to the music like his sellout song. Sly had released this really intelligent debut album called A Whole New Thing, which is probably my favorite album of its entire canon. But It was way too wordy, way too smart, way too nerdy, just so ahead of its time that only a certain few latched onto it.

And the rejection of that album kind of depressed Sly and his label said, look, You know, like you're doing way too much. You know, you're doing way too much. You got to simplify it. People aren't as smart as you are. Like instead of you being the smartest guy in the room, be a relatable guy in the room. People just want to dance to the music and kind of in a very bitter, scoffy way.

And the rejection of that album kind of depressed Sly and his label said, look, You know, like you're doing way too much. You know, you're doing way too much. You got to simplify it. People aren't as smart as you are. Like instead of you being the smartest guy in the room, be a relatable guy in the room. People just want to dance to the music and kind of in a very bitter, scoffy way.

And the rejection of that album kind of depressed Sly and his label said, look, You know, like you're doing way too much. You know, you're doing way too much. You got to simplify it. People aren't as smart as you are. Like instead of you being the smartest guy in the room, be a relatable guy in the room. People just want to dance to the music and kind of in a very bitter, scoffy way.

Like he's like, all right, well, people want to dance to the music. Fine. And so he did a very sarcastic thing. And so he's like, all right, well, people want to dance to the music. Fine. I'm going to make a song and I'm going to teach them how to dance to my music. And essentially dance to the music is an instructional introduction on who we are. Hey, I play the bass. Yeah. I play the drums.

Like he's like, all right, well, people want to dance to the music. Fine. And so he did a very sarcastic thing. And so he's like, all right, well, people want to dance to the music. Fine. I'm going to make a song and I'm going to teach them how to dance to my music. And essentially dance to the music is an instructional introduction on who we are. Hey, I play the bass. Yeah. I play the drums.

Like he's like, all right, well, people want to dance to the music. Fine. And so he did a very sarcastic thing. And so he's like, all right, well, people want to dance to the music. Fine. I'm going to make a song and I'm going to teach them how to dance to my music. And essentially dance to the music is an instructional introduction on who we are. Hey, I play the bass. Yeah. I play the drums.

I play the keyboards. And literally, that's the song. There's no lyrics to the song. It's just a sing-along. But what Sly doesn't realize is that in his very sarcastic, bitter, middle-finger type of way,

I play the keyboards. And literally, that's the song. There's no lyrics to the song. It's just a sing-along. But what Sly doesn't realize is that in his very sarcastic, bitter, middle-finger type of way,

I play the keyboards. And literally, that's the song. There's no lyrics to the song. It's just a sing-along. But what Sly doesn't realize is that in his very sarcastic, bitter, middle-finger type of way,

he includes everybody and people grasp to it and so it dance the music is one of those accidental number one songs that he didn't intend on catching on it was more of like a just a bitter here you guys want you know regular food instead of this you know meal i cooked up for you fine take your sandwich and get out of here and people gravitated towards it so