Questlove's Reading List

"His ode to ‘Trap Queen’ as the new ‘I Will Always Love You’ first caught my attention. I was instantly hooked."

"The chapter on Larry Levan alone transformed me into wanting to be your favorite DJ."

"My two favorite things in one setting: liner notes and hip hop classics!"

"This book represents my chapter in American history—my great great great grandfather was on this ship. I’m his dream manifested."

"Although his 2004 book on chicken is the usual go to, it’s his ode to soul food and race that grabbed me."

"She’s an actress who has worked in television and film for decades. She played Tupac’s mother in ‘Poetic Justice’ and Tina Turner’s mother in ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It?’ Now she’s in ‘Black-ish.’ Her book was hilarious. I listened to the audiobook, and it was so good that it made me step up my audiobook game for Creative Quest ."

"The Autobiography of Malcolm X changed my life. I read it when I was 15, and that — along with discovering Public Enemy and Afrocentric hip-hop — kind of went hand in hand as a consciousness-builder and creator."

"Lots of musicians have written memoirs. I did. This one, by the great jazz bassist and composer, is one of the funniest, smartest, and rawest."

"Similar to my envy of Outkast’s Spottieottiedopaliscious , this is the memoir I wish I could’ve written. This film is damn near my personal cinema bible."

"My favorite children’s book was Dr. Seuss’ My Book About Me , which is a kind of guided workbook that lets you write your own autobiography. I carried it around as if I wrote it, which I guess I did. I was so proud. To this day, I love that book — I probably have 50 blank copies of it in storage."

"Greg Tate made me want to be a writer. I was amazed that a musician was so fluid and had enough knowledge to describe and analyze other people’s music so well."

"It has recipes in it, but it also talks about the social and racial history of soul food. It inspired my 200-day run with vegetarianism."

"A book I loved so much I begged to do the foreward when I received the manuscript."

"I like reading poetry, and I like eating and drinking. This book combines all of that with poetry about food and drink."