If all art is made along the same path, then a new link can be drawn between musician/filmmaker Questlove and cinematic icon Spike Lee. During a recent interview with Variety’s Award Circuit Podcast, “Sly Lives!” director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson shared that his career was started after viewing a 1980s commercial made by Lee.
“My best friend in high school saw a commercial one day by Spike Lee with a busking drummer on the street corner,” Questlove said, “and we looked at each other like, ‘Hey, let’s do that.’”
He added that this experience drumming on the streets “led to a record deal, it led to living in London and it led to my first Grammy, and it led to this moment.” Questlove went on to win the Oscar and the BAFTA for his 2021 documentary “Summer of Soul.” Returning to London for the BAFTA ceremony, he decided to revisit some of his old haunts.
“I made my driver go so that 50-year-old me could look at the 24-year-old disparaged, very discouraged version of myself in his apartment window, wondering if he had a future or not,” Questlove told Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast.
Next up, Questlove will be debuting an Earth, Wind, and Fire documentary that he hopes will land on a very particular day.
“I’m not making promises,” he said, “but if this film does not come out on the 21st day of September, then I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Feel like catching up with Questlove in person? Attend our “Pass the Remote” screening of “Sly Lives!” on Saturday, May 3 at Vidiots in Eagle Rock. The documentary will be followed by a Q&A with both Questlove and his producer, Joseph Patel.
Speaking to IndieWire back at Sundance where the film premiered, Questlove discussed including a shot of Will Smith in a montage for the film. This held particular resonance because Questlove’s Oscar win was preceded by Smith’s infamous slapping of Chris Rock.
“It was an important discussion,” Questlove said of how or whether to include Smith. “How do we handle this? What frame do we show? That was probably a rare moment of multiple sabotagings happening in one moment, that was lightning in a bottle. But we had to give examples [of what we were trying to express], and I think it was tastefully done. That was definitely a moment in history where you see this idea of ‘You get what you came for, but what happens when you get what you thought you wanted? What happens to your life then?’”
