Attention music nerds: Questlove is now a music columnist.
After publishing his first book, Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove, the musical prodigy picked his pen back up to bring his encyclopedic hip-hop knowledge to New York Magazine’s Vulture, where he’ll pen a weekly series that will examine hip-hop’s evolution.
In the first installment, “When the People Cheer: How Hip-Hop Failed Black America“, Quest waxes about hip-hop’s ubiquity, and how it has become synonymous with black culture. He writes:
And that’s what it’s become: an entire cultural movement, packed into one hyphenated adjective. These days, nearly anything fashioned or put forth by black people gets referred to as “hip-hop,” even when the description is a poor or pointless fit. “Hip-hop fashion” makes a little sense, but even that is confusing: Does it refer to fashions popularized by hip-hop musicians, like my Lego heart pin, or to fashions that participate in the same vague cool that defines hip-hop music? Others make a whole lot of nonsense: “Hip-hop food”? “Hip-hop politics”? “Hip-hop intellectual”? And there’s even “hip-hop architecture.” What the hell is that? A house you build with a Hammer?
Tell us what you think about his inaugural essay. Also, The Roots will perform on the Mainstage at this year’s Essence Festival. Get your tickets!