I'm so glad I picked up Quest's memoir after finishing Something to Food About, which I also highly recommend. This was truly an insightful book which offered a look at his work, within our world, interweaved with music and hip hop...MY kind of hip hop (which is the best of hip hop). I loved many things about it, including the structure--it was different. As a huge fan of ATCQ and the Native Tongues and D'Angelo, I'm absolutely amazed at how connected the Roots crew is to everything I love in music, especially neo-soul and hip hop but also just plain good music from any genre. It was about music but so much more. I most enjoyed reading about his creative journeys -- success, failure, success, failure, success...the never-ending cycle of highs and lows, the intricate relationships, the everything. Mirrors my own...except I DVR Fallon instead of starring on it. lol I came away with quite a few takeaways--here are 7. 1. The artistic factions within the hip hop industry are eerily similar to those in the AA literary industry. There's a constant tug of war between artistic traditionalism and commercialism. Excellent discussion on that throughout. 2. No matter what your journey, your gift, or your art is, the key to success is perseverance. Simply can't quit. And when opportunity knocks you have to say yes. 3. Side note -- I could see the birth of Black Messiah in here -- thanks to Quest for Pino Palladino and that bass line in Another Life. 4. I'm not the only one who judges the "Coolness" of Jimmy Fallon's guests by whether they acknowledge The Roots. 5. If you need creative energy this is a great place to find some. 6. We all need a Ben Greenman to help tell our stories. 7. We Aquarians rock.
This was a fantastic read. I devoured it in a couple of days. Like the Steve Jobs bio, this is definitely a book that I'll read more than once. I highly recommend it
- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition (June 18, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 9781455501359
- ISBN-13: 978-1455501359
- ASIN: 1455501352
- Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 198 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#617,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #207 in Rap & Hip-Hop Musician Biographies
- #404 in R&B Artist Biographies
- #313 in Rap Music (Books)
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