debi_g's review against another edition
Entertaining background and anecdotes about Questlove's childhood, career path, ambitions, and life experiences. I would have enjoyed learning more about his bandmates, but fully understand that their stories are not his to tell.
Full disclosure: I checked this book out and planned to read it, but my husband picked it up and read or summarized most of it to me in conversation, so I decided that second-hand reading would suffice.
Full disclosure: I checked this book out and planned to read it, but my husband picked it up and read or summarized most of it to me in conversation, so I decided that second-hand reading would suffice.
brendaclay's review against another edition
5.0
Questlove, drummer for the Roots (Jimmy Fallon's house band), has written not only a unique and fascinating memoir, but also a sort of Hip-Hop History 101 for the casual observer. Stories about his upbringing in Philadelphia and the early days of the Roots are interspersed with lists of the albums that shaped his life. His editor, co-writer, and manager also chime in a few times about how the writing is going (that would be the "Meta" part). I learned a lot from this intelligent, riveting book!
clitchmore's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
dlberglund's review against another edition
4.0
Questlove is brilliant, and his passion and encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary music over the last 50 (75?) years is astounding. There are stories of his youth in here, and some gratuitous name dropping, but the book is mainly made up of his musical development and process. It was occasionally over my head, to be honest, but it also had me reaching for YouTube on a pretty regular basis to check out the band/artist I didn't know well or hadn't heard of at all, or a music video I had never seen.
joegisondi's review against another edition
3.0
This isn’t going to light the world on fire with its literary prowess. It’s a self-reflective, genuine man telling stories and that’s good enough for me.
yasdnilr's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this is like sitting in our backyard talking about music and its various connections, with a soundtrack, sometimes live. But questlove has been there throughout true music history and went roller skating with Prince so, you know, much more interesting and COOL.
It’s worth listening to an accompanying playlist while reading. I’m sure someone has made one somewhere
It’s worth listening to an accompanying playlist while reading. I’m sure someone has made one somewhere
ellie_egg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5