Questlove (aka Ahmir Thompson), the director of Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar and BAFTA and a Best Music Film Grammy in 2022.
Questlove’s Hip-Hop Is History with Ben Greenman (AUWA Books, 2024), collection Ed Bahlman |
2024 is turning out to be another good year for Questlove, And on 11 June, 2024, Questlove’s Hip-Hop is History with Ben Greenman was published by AUWA Books. On 11 December, it was announced that his Sly Lives! (aka The Burden Of Black Genius) will have its world première at the Sundance Film Festival.
UFO by ESG (99-04 EP, 1981), produced by Martin Hannett and mastered by 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman is the most sampled track in hip-hop!
Hip-Hop is History starts in the introduction by Questlove: “I am writing from the summer of 2023, the year that has been officially designated as the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop.” He goes on to state: “The designation stems from the date, mythic but also real, of an 11 August, 1973, back-to-school party in the Bronx, held in the rec room of an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue …”
In 2023, Questlove curated a 15 minute-musical tribute for the Grammy Awards to honour the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
He also hosted, in November of this year, an invitation-only screening of Jacqueline Baylon’s award-winning short, Until He’s Back, which was Oscar shortlisted on 17 December.
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden Of Black Genius) screens at the Sundance Film Festival and has its World Première on Thursday, 23 January, 2025. The film will be available on Hulu starting on Thursday, 13 February, 2025.