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Questlove Details 40 Reasons Why Prince Was A Pioneer Of Hip-Hop

blame it on Patrick Glynn May 30, 2016
questlove-vs-prince

Through all of the tributes, remembrances and grieving of Prince’s death, Questlove has been one of the more vocal artists detailing why Prince was such an important artist across all genres.

Between his letter in Rolling Stone to taking part (and defending) the tribute at the Billboard Awards, The Roots drummer took it a step further detailing why Prince was a pioneer of hip-hop on Instagram. Along with a tribute cover of Prince on The Source, Questlove said, after giving it some thought, it made sense why he’d cover a hip-hop magazine. Then he listed 40 reason of how Prince embodied hip-hop culture:

  1. came from troubled home
  2. limited access to music forces him to create his own world of music
  3. Overcame Poverty
  4. creates fictional background tales to keep the press guessing
  5. lives by the DIY creed
  6. takes fashion taboos & makes them mainstream and acceptable
  7. cock blocks & steals yo lady on the low (ask Rick)
  8. puts his crew on—get them deals & makes them stars
  9. pretty much wrote the book on gettin some better than any of his contemporaries
  10. had beef w his peers who hated on him
  11. invented the remix (not disco edits, but reimagining the album version)
  12. played mystery card—let us think what we wanted—gave the press middle finger
  13. ghostwrote for everyone
  14. used mad aliases
  15. refused 2 b ordinary & eschewed the proper English language as a ways 2 communicate
  16. knew the B side wins again and again
  17. used the exotic honey to his advantage
  18. used his music to give his views on the po po, politicians, gun control, war, god, squares & “the man”
  19. turned a long music video into a revolution
  20. best drum machine programmer ever
  21. used synthesizers as a way of life
  22. could make an entire album in less than a week
  23. balled so hard in Paris & other parts of France—so he made a film about it.
  24. cut his crew off and got a new crew.
  25. went all hippie like it was nothing.
  26. made dis records
  27. never wifed em, mostly replaced em
  28. started his own label
  29. Parental Advisory was invented because of him
  30. made a Black Album w a chip on shoulder to prove to black people he was still bad.
  31. plays sports better than u
  32. had mad songs in the stash
  33. had an MTV mansion/compound long before anyone did
  34. changed looks constantly
  35. dropped music on the net in record time
  36. looked out for his peeps on the low doing benefits and raising money like a modern day Robin Hood
  37. tries taking on the man for his complete freedom
  38. couldn’t tell him NOTHING
  39. always escaped into thin air
  40. left us way too early

And there ya have it. There’s probably another 40 reasons on top of that, too, but Questlove rounded it off there.

1st i chuckled cause well…—ok it’s been a min since I saw The Source but after I pondered —-yeah it made sense: 1) came from troubled home 2) limited access to music forces him to create his own world of music 3) Overcame Poverty 4) creates fictional background tales to keep the press guessing 5) lives by the DIY creed 6) takes fashion taboos & makes them mainstream and acceptable 7) cock blocks & steals yo lady on the low (ask Rick) 8) puts his crew on—get them deals & makes them stars 9) pretty much wrote the book on gettin some better than any of his contemporaries 10) had beef w his peers who hated on him 11) invented the remix (not disco edits, but reimagining the album version) 12) played mystery card—let us think what we wanted—gave the press middle finger 13) ghostwrote for everyone 14) used mad aliases 15) refused 2 b ordinary & eschewed the proper English language as a ways 2 communicate 16) knew the B side wins again and again 17) used the exotic honey to his advantage 18) used his music to give his views on the po po, politicians, gun control, war, god, squares & “the man” 19) turned a long music video into a revolution 20) best drum machine programmer ever 21) used synthesizers as a way of life 22) could make an entire album in less than a week 23) balled so hard in Paris & other parts of France—so he made a film about it. 24) cut his crew off and got a new crew. 25) went all hippie like it was nothing. 26) made dis records 27) never wifed em, mostly replaced em 28)started his own label 29) Parental Advisory was invented because of him 30) made a Black Album w a chip on shoulder to prove to black people he was still bad. 31) plays sports better than u 32) had mad songs in the stash 33) had an MTV mansion/compound long before anyone did 34) changed looks constantly 35)dropped music on the net in record time 36) looked out for his peeps on the low doing benefits and raising money like a modern day Robin Hood 37) tries taking on the man for his complete freedom 38) couldn’t tell him NOTHING 39) always escaped into thin air 40) left us way too early #PrinceRogersNelson #HipHopPioneer. @TheSource.

A photo posted by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on