“I’m a world-famous celebrity hoarder,” says Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, a founding member of The Roots and current bandleader and drummer on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” “I have about 15 storage spaces, so basically I’m a firm believer in throwing nothing away.”
Given that Questlove needs nine of those storage spaces just to hold his 170,000-piece record collection, it was a daunting task to narrow his cultural enthusiasms down to just 10 essentials. But he took a break from his forthcoming directorial debut, a documentary tentatively titled “Black Woodstock,” to give it a try. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
1. “Soul Train” Episodes
There’s a story I often tell about this time when Prince fired me at a D.J. gig and opted to put “Finding Nemo” on instead. I thought it was a joke. I was like, we’re in a nightclub right now — you’re really just going to cut the music off halfway and put on Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks? And that’s exactly what he did. Like, full blast. His assistant explained to me, “‘Finding Nemo’ is Prince’s aquarium.” Wherever he was, there was required to be a television monitor, and “Finding Nemo” was supposed to be on in the background. That was his happy place.
Once I heard that, then I understood what the 600-plus episodes of “Soul Train” that I own are for me. Normally I just have them with the volume down and playing on random, kind of like a playlist or a mixtape. Before my girlfriend moved into the house, I would say that those 600 episodes of “Soul Train” had played on shuffle without ever being turned off. I’m surprised that this television hasn’t exploded yet. Only until this year have I learned to sleep in total darkness. At one point, all three televisions in the house would have “Soul Train” on loop, as though it were an aquarium. A Soul Aquarium.
2. Hassan Hajjaj Paintings
In the last year and a half, I’ve started an art collection. I thought that was just for snobby, well-to-do older people or college professors. And then I realized that that’s exactly what I’ve become. My girlfriend kind of assisted me in this, because she’s way more knowledgeable.
One piece I have is by a Moroccan artist, Hassan Hajjaj. Because he’s been dubbed the Andy Warhol of Marrakesh, all of his art is adorned with fake soup cans. We actually have two pieces here, and I look at them when I wake up in the morning and just sort of get lost in them.
3. Oasa DuVerney
Another artist I love is Oasa DuVerney. We have this really stark black piece that she made for us that I can’t really describe. Have you ever seen that Barnett Newman piece that’s all blue? It’s sort of like that, but a texturized black version of it. It’s inspirational to look at.
4. Frank William Miller Jr. T-shirts
I’m trying to dress my age, but it’s hard to give up T-shirts. There’s a designer that I really love. His name is Frank William Miller Jr. — his tag is FWMJ.com. He makes a lot of controversial political T-shirts, and if I’m not wearing my suits and stuff that I have to wear for “The Tonight Show,” I’ll say that 70 percent of the time his shirts adorn me. Frank is almost like — in the way that he produces these shirts — he’s almost like the news.
Under this current administration, the one thing I’ve invested in is my expression of the anger over what happens in any given week. I look at shirts from two years ago and I’m like, remember when we were just angry about that?
5. XELKOM
In the past maybe year and a half, one thing I’ve realized is this idea of my reluctance to own my kingdom. Oftentimes, reluctant heroes like to stay in their Clark Kent mode. I also think with a lot of black people in my field, there’s a survivor’s guilt, because a lot of us come from the opposite side of life, but you still have to face people you grew up with who maybe haven’t had a chance to rise up into a place of safety, if you will.
Where I shoot “The Tonight Show,” I can tell who’s in the highest tax bracket of anyone working at 30 Rockefeller Plaza based on how they wear their jacket. I can tell a millionaire instantly if they still have a Blackberry and drape their coat over themselves.
But I went from making fun of all that to finally maybe owning up to the fact that I don’t have to stay a 22-year-old struggling artist. I’m far from that now. I told you that entire story to tell you that there’s this designer XELKOM. He makes these jewelry pieces and — I won’t say they’re capes and they’re not ponchos — they’re really hip princely sort of robe type things. For me at least, his pieces feel very royal. I guess you could say I’m reluctantly or slowly easing into a royal kind of stance.
6. Dee and Ricky Crown
Dee and Ricky are twin designers from Brooklyn that make me those Lego hearts that I wear all the time. But they also make crowns. And, again, thought it was silly, like, ha ha, wearing a crown. But I was complaining one day that I never get to wear baseball caps or those porkpie caps, none of the iconic hats. No cowboy hats, nothing. So these guys were like, we’ve got the perfect idea for you, and this could fit your Afro. So they made me a crown. It’s a cloth crown. It looks like a headband, but it is indeed a crown. Again, I felt silly at first, but then I got used to it. I’m owning my kingdom.
7. Toyota 2004 Scion xB
I had agreed to do a commercial for the Toyota Scion back when they first came out. I joked that I liked the car because it was Afro-friendly. I was tired of getting out of cars and the top of my Afro was flat. But still, right before I shot the commercial, they were like, “We need your license and your insurance card.” I was like, “Oh, I don’t have a license.” And so, that was problematic. They might have been a little angry. They were like, “Who would agree to doing a car commercial without a license?” I got defensive. I was like, “Well, who would give me all that money up front without verifying if I was a licensed driver? So, we’re both stuck here, pal.”
They found a clever way to execute this within the bounds of the law: They made a film about me going to driving school and getting my license. They were like, “You’re not getting this car until you get a license. So we’re going to film you getting your license.” And that’s how I got my first car.
8. Kitsch Record Collections
My record-shopping method is a little bit unorthodox and unfair to record collectors. I have a broker who just scours the country for people that are about to trash their collections. I’m talking about, like, families that had a jukebox 45 one-stop-shop business. Usually you get a nephew who’s like, “My uncle once serviced over 300 bars in Georgia but now they’re gone and we’re getting rid of this warehouse with 40,000 45s. We heard you like records, Questlove, so you want ‘em or not?” I can’t see it go to the trash. I can’t. So right before I called you, someone just sold me another 30,000 pieces. Right now, with this additional 30,000, I’m up to about 170[,000 records] now. At one point I was going to buy another house just to put them all in, but now I need a warehouse. So there’s that problem.
I just recently started an obsession with collecting kitsch albums. And I found the ultimate collection in Portland, Oregon, over 50,000 pieces.
In the ’70s and the ’80s, when bar bands or local bands wanted to get a gig, they would save their money, go into a studio, and they would cover maybe 13 or 14 of the popular songs of the day. They’d cover the Commodores and Stevie Wonder and KC and The Sunshine Band or whatever. They were mediocre at best. They’d print this record up, and they’d probably make 500 copies. And then they would send it to local agents and that was their audition tape. So right now I’ve been D.J.ing the worst covers of popular songs. It’s my new thing. If you’re into hearing 14 versions of Kool & the Gang’s “Ladies Night,” I’m your man. I usually wait until 1 a.m. when everyone’s good and drunk. And then they’re like, wait, is he playing the longest version of the Jackson 5’s “ABC”?
9. Minor Scorsese
The Martin Scorsese films that I love are the non-Captain Obvious ones. As a matter of fact, I told him this one time when he and I did a sketch on “The Tonight Show,” and I was so embarrassed. I know that “New York, New York” was such a nightmare for him that he won’t even allow it on iTunes. But I’m probably the only human being who didn’t mind “New York, New York.” Yes, I respect “Raging Bull” and “Casino” and “Goodfellas” and whatnot, but I love “The King of Comedy,” and I love “After Hours,” I love his particular portion of “New York Stories,” and definitely “Cape Fear.” In the heyday of The Roots making our first record, Tariq [Trotter] and I watched “Cape Fear” every night after coming home after recording. So I’ve probably seen “Cape Fear,” like, 700 times.
10. “To Be Continued …” Sitcom Episodes
I have a very strange obsession with two-part comedy episodes. Nothing is funnier to me than when comedies have to get super serious and the “To Be Continued …” is about to pop up. At “The Tonight Show” right now, we’re watching every two-parter of “Good Times” because when trouble happens, right before Janet Jackson gets burnt with the iron, or right before that little kid almost fell down an elevator shaft because the elevator wasn’t working in the projects. You hear the audience say, “Oooh!” And then “To Be Continued …” comes up in a real scary font and it’s real silent at the end. That’s my obsession.
In the past year or so, I’ve been catching up on every two-part “Jeffersons” episode. There’s one where they actually show George getting stabbed by an all-girl gang in an alleyway. The woman who does the stabbing played Coco on the TV version of “Fame.” So it’s like, George was taking out the trash at his cleaners and this girl gang comes up and robs him of his wedding ring. And when he tries to get it back she pulls out a knife and she stabs him! There’s blood all over his hands. I’m like, this is a really serious “Jeffersons”! I’m about to delve into all the “Diff’rent Strokes” two-parters. If it’s ten seconds before the “To Be Continued …” pops up on a sitcom from the ’70s and ’80s? I’m there.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
