Did Sly Stone ‘Blow It?’ Questlove Says the Answer is Complicated

In his new documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), Questlove delves into the genius and torments of Sly Stone — and uses that story as window into many other artists’ lives, including interviewees D’Angelo and Andre 3000. Questlove talks about the making of the film (now streaming on Hulu), some misunderstood aspects of Stone’s career, and much more in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now — including a confirmation that the long-awaited follow-up to D’Angelo’s 2014 album Black Messiah is on the way. 

Also in the episode, Questlove offers a preview of his next movie, a documentary about the legendary band Earth, Wind and Fire. To hear the whole episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above. Here are some highlights from the discussion:

Questlove defends the “audacity” Maria Shriver showed — in an old interview that’s central to his film — by trying to get Sly Stone to acknowledge he “blew it” in letting drugs derail his career.  “I won’t lie to you, I’m jealous at her audacity to ask that question,” Questlove says. “I knew this project was not the Sly Stone story. My intent was always to use Sly Stone to tell our story, my story, D’Angelo’s story, Lauryn Hill‘s story, Frank Ocean’s story… When you’re talking about blowing it, a lot of times, the fear of failing or the fear of returning to where you came from — which is the very bottom — causes you anxiety about your future, and then causes you to fumble it… That context is not brought up in Maria Shriver’s question. So it’s rather unfair for him to get ambushed with that question, but yes, on a technicality, he did blow it.” 

Questlove argues that even Sly Stone’s seemingly utopian early music often conceals darker messages. “Sly always does that,” he says. “I think that’s kind of his like, help the medicine go down approach… He paints a very dark, lyric, paranoia, self-confessional thing almost in every record, but it’s so happy sounding.” Questlove draws parallels to Michael Jackson‘s Thriller: “Song one, paranoia. Song two, abandonment issues… There’s not one happy song on Thriller. It’s all paranoia.”

Convincing D’Angelo to discuss parallels between Sly Stone and his own life created tension during their interview for the film. Even years before, Questlove had raised the comparison with D’Angelo in “heated, serious discussions,” he says. “I might warn of the dangers of going down the Riot path in terms of not fucking yourself, not self-sabotaging yourself.” And in the interview, he adds, “You kind of notice the moment where D realizes he’s been lovingly ambushed. And that he’s not there to talk about harmony structure in a song, but, ‘OK, you got me, this is what you really want to talk about.’”

Questlove confirms Raphael Saadiq’s recent comments that D’Angelo is finishing new music. “He’s probably in the best mind state and condition that I’ve experienced in a minute,” Questlove says. “We talk weekly. So I think he’s now in a mental headspace where he’s ready. He’s definitely excited about the new music. I don’t know what’s specifically chosen for the next album coming out, but I’ve heard one or two things that haven’t been released.”

Questlove hopes to release his Earth, Wind and Fire documentary in the appropriate month of September this year, and says it’ll go “further” in exploring some of the questions raised in Sly Lives! “Earth, Wind and Fire crack the code with everything that I just spoke to you about,” Questlove explains. “All of Earth, Wind and Fire’s music has tricked us into positivity without knowing it. They hid affirmations in plain sight. Earth, Wind and Fire was Jesus-less gospel music. But then there’s a twist to the film that you’ll just have to wait until September, God willing, to see it.”

The world is likely to never see Ezra Edelman’s multi-part Prince documentary after the artist’s estate killed it, but Questlove is still pondering its lessons.  “It’s a story of a human being who never, ever felt safe,” he says. “And as a result, having to always be on guard. Have to always live on the defense.” The film had a profound impact on him: “First time I’d seen it, I had to schedule a 3 a.m. appointment with my therapist. I busted an eye vessel [crying]. I took a photo of it, like an eye vessel of my eye near bleeding. I didn’t know one could bleed tears.”

Questlove warns of an “epidemic” of Black artists dying young.  “I’m surprised,” he says, “that no one’s like, ‘Why are all these Black artists just dying one by one? This is not by old age. All my rapper friends are not making it to 60.” He connects this phenomenon to historical trauma: “Everything that we’ve learned about emotions stems from just generations and generations of not feeling safe to express ourselves… There is an endless amount of therapy that we have to deal with and it’s not the church. It’s not religion. It’s literally getting to the heart of our humanity and our emotions.”

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