Publisher Description
Music Is History combines Questlove's deep musical expertise with his curiosity about history, examining America over the past fifty years.
Focusing on the years 1971 to the present, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapestry, whether investigating how the blaxploitation era reshaped Black identity or considering the way disco took an assembly-line approach to Black genius. And these critical inquiries are complemented by his own memories as a music fan, and the way his appetite for pop culture taught him about America.
A history of the last half-century and an intimate conversation with one of music’s most influential and original voices, Music Is History is a singular look at contemporary America.
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“We are treated to a connoisseur and historian's point of view as he explores which songs are representative of each year and how each song symbolizes the cultural and political moment of the time.”
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Barnes&Noble.com
About the Authors
Ben Greenman is an editor at the New Yorker and the author of several acclaimed books of fiction, including, Superbad, A Circle Is a Balloon, Compass Both, and the funk-rock novel Please Step Back. His fiction, essays, and journalism have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Paris Review, Zoetrope, McSweeney’s, and Opium, and he has been widely anthologized. He is also a regular contributor to the online music site MoistWorks.com. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
Questlove is a musician and music journalist. He is the drummer and joint frontman for the band The Roots, the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014.