For the holiday weekend, we're revisiting our recent interview with Questlove. His documentary, SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), examines Sly Stone's enormous impact on music — and the price he paid for it. "Sly will invent the alphabet for which most of pop and R&B or Black music will write from for the next 60 years," Questlove says. "We're still writing from his dictionary to this day."Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. Today, as we kick off the unofficial start of the summer, we'll listen back to my interview with Amir Questlove Thompson, recorded earlier this year, about the life and legacy of Sly Stone.
I want to thank you for letting me be myself again.
Questlove's documentary called Sly Lives, a.k.a. The Burden of Black Genius, is about Sly Stone and his band Sly and the Family Stone and their impact on music and culture.
Sly got his start as a DJ and record producer in the early 1960s, formed a multiracial band with his brother, sister, and other musicians, and went on to record hits like Everyday People, Dance to the Music, Family Affair, and Stand. Their music influenced Prince, George Clinton and Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many hip-hop artists.
The film also covers the problems that came along with fame and drugs that took Sly down. Questlove is the co-founder of the hip-hop band The Roots, which is the house band for The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon. He had another documentary that came out this year focused on Saturday Night Live's music guests and music sketches over the past 50 years.
That one's called Ladies and Gentlemen, 50 Years of SNL Music. Questlove's 2021 film Summer of Soul, featuring performances from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, won an Oscar for Best Documentary. So let's talk about your slide documentary. I really love this film. I want to start with a song, and it's their first big hit. It's Dance to the Music.
It's so catchy, and I'd like you to point out what makes this song special in its moment, which was 1967 or 8?
This is 1968.
Okay. So what makes this song so special in its moment?
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