Questlove Pens List Explaining Why Prince Was ‘Hip-Hop Pioneer’
Questlove has penned another tribute to Prince, this time a humorous Instagram post that lists 40 reasons why the legendary artist was a “hip-hop pioneer.” Inspired by the Prince-dedicated issue of The Source, the Roots drummer broke down what made Prince such an influential artist and cutting edge talent, from the fact that he “turned a long music video into a revolution” to his reputation as the “best drum machine programmer ever.”
As Questlove wrote, Prince “had beef w his peers who hated on him,” “invented the remix (not disco edits, but reimagining the album version),” “ghostwrote for everyone,” “used mad aliases,” “refused 2 b ordinary & eschewed the proper English language as a ways 2 communicate,” and “knew the B side wins again and again.”
The drummer also credited Prince with overcoming poverty and a troubled home as well as his “DIY creed.” “Parental Advisory was invented because of him,” Questlove wrote, adding that Prince, like his hip-hop counterparts, “made dis records,” “dropped music on the net in record time” and “could make an entire album in less than a week.”
Questlove previously penned a powerful Rolling Stone essay exploring Prince’s genius, and the Roots drummer was also charged with overseeing and introducing (and later defending) the Billboard Music Awards’ tribute to Prince.
Read Questlove’s entire list below: