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Music Is History
- Narrated by: Questlove
- Length: 11 hrs
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Publisher's Summary
Best-selling author and Sundance award-winning director Questlove offers a thrilling, music-driven ride through the last 50 years of American history
In Music Is History, best-selling author and Sundance award-winning director Questlove harnesses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and his deep curiosity about history to examine America over the past 50 years. Choosing one essential track from each year, Questlove unpacks each song’s significance, revealing the pivotal role that American music plays around issues of race, gender, politics, and identity.
Music Is History focuses on the years 1971 to the present, not only the country’s most complex and rewarding half-century when it comes to the ways that pop culture and culturally diverse history intersect and interact, but also the years that overlap with Questlove’s own life. Music Is History moves fluidly from the personal to the political, examining events closely and critically, to unpeel and uncover previously unseen dimensions, and encouraging listeners to do the same. Whether he is exploring how Black identity reshaped itself during the blaxploitation era, analyzing the assembly-line nature of disco and its hostility to Black genius, or remembering his own youth as a pop fan and what it taught him about America, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapestry.
Complete with playlists organized around personal, playful themes that touch on everything from the relationship of hip-hop to music’s past to the secret ingredient in all funk songs, Music Is History is filled with and informed by Questlove’s preferences, perspectives, and particularities. It feels like both a popular history of contemporary America and a conversation with one of music's most influential and unique voices.
Featured Article: From the Queen of Soul to the Purple One, Hear the Stories of Black Musicians and Artists Who Broke Boundaries
This Black History Month—and every day of the year—we're shining a light on artists and thinkers who demonstrate the boundless depths of Black creativity, joy, and love. We've gathered a list of memoirs by and biographies about artists who totally upended the expectations of a white-dominated field and crafted something entirely their own, making history and changing lives as a result.
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What listeners say about Music Is History
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- HomeChef
- 11-05-21
This would be better read than listened to
Questlove's knowledge of music is amazing and it's very interesting to see how he has internalized so much great music and the connections between different artists and their performances. He also has a very pleasant voice. Unfortunately, his depth of knowledge and the layers of meanings he sees and imparts to the listener are really hard to follow in spoken form. His sentences tend to be full of so many dependent clauses that it's difficult to keep track of the meaning. In a book, one could go back and trace all the connections but after listening to the 4th, 5th and 6th branch off of the original idea it's easy to get confused. At first this was fun but after awhile it gets exhausting. This issue could have been addressed with some stronger editing. As much as I was looking forward to this Audible presentation I'm actually going to return it because I'd rather buy the book. The other disappointing thing is that I assumed the advantage of an audio version was that we could hear some more clips of the music he talks about but there is very little offered (presumably related to copyright?). That's a shame as it would be a real bonus for the audio version.
8 people found this helpful
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- 10-25-21
Almost Perfect
The only thing that would’ve made this any better for me is if his playlist was included.
5 people found this helpful
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- Kristen
- 12-14-21
Possibly Better in Hard Copy Format
Questlove is a plethora of musical knowledge. In this book, he talks about historical events that happened from the year he was born (1971) to 2020. It's an autobiography of sorts that ties these events in with the music that happened to surround him each year. His musical tastes are broad, so you hear about everything from soul to funk to hip hop to rock to pop.
The concept of this book is outstanding. However, I don't feel like it translates well to audiobook. It seems to jump around a bit with what seems like footnotes or side topics. Now that I've experienced the audiobook, I'll be picking up a hard copy of this one.
2 people found this helpful
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- Lady Z
- 12-24-21
Yes to all of this!
So honest and satisfying. It was like remenissung with a good friend who has unique insight and a beautifully Philosophical brain!
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-15-23
If you love music...
...If you love history. If you love music history. If you love the idea of history examined through a musical lens. If you love music discussed through the lens of culture. Not to mention, if you love Prince, Stevie, The Police and your a Hip Hop head...YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY (QUEST)LOVE THIS AUDIOBOOK. His approach is astoundingly smart with a truly enigmatic and refreshingly personal execution, to boot. The man knows his ish! And he is really fun to listen too. So glad he decided to narrate it himself. Download this jawn right away! (shout out to South Philly, in the house y'all)
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- Amanda
- 03-15-23
Bit too academic for my liking
The book was full of music knowledge, insightful thoughts and good music; however, it it was a bit too academic for my liking. It would work well as an accompanying book to Questlove’s NYU course, I’m sure!
For me, as a layperson, it was hard to follow. I sort of felt like his “younger girlfriends” he described- trying to understand his enthusiastic music history and references but ultimately getting a bit bored. I’m sure for a music enthusiast this book is incredible, but it just wasn’t for me.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-23-23
Deep insights
A lively reminder of how popular music scores everyday events and burns them into memories.
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- Elijah Carbajal
- 02-04-23
Five stars
I love this book! Questlove reads it, so it makes it even more enjoyable. Must read!
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- Stephanie Arora
- 03-07-22
Time well spent
I loved listening to this book. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was awesome none the less. Appreciated the trip down memory lane.
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- A. Phipps
- 12-29-21
History Book for Sure
While I did learn some really good information about music and artists that I know and love, the delivery was very LIST LIKE, which made it difficult at times to get through. I am still in awe of Quest Loves attention to music details, I happily came to the end of this book.
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Creative Quest
- By: Questlove
- Narrated by: Questlove, Fred Armisen, Tariq Trotter, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In Creative Quest, Questlove synthesizes all the creative philosophies, lessons, and stories he's heard from the many creators and collaborators in his life, and reflects on his own experience, to advise listeners and fans on how to consider creativity and where to find it. He addresses many topics - what it means to be creative, how to find a mentor and serve as an apprentice, the wisdom of maintaining a creative network, coping with critics and the foibles of success, and the specific pitfalls of contemporary culture.
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Questlove once again is my fairy godmother
- By Richard on 04-26-18
By: Questlove
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Vibrate Higher
- A Rap Story
- By: Talib Kweli
- Narrated by: Talib Kweli
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Before Talib Kweli became a world-renowned hip hop artist, he was a Brooklyn kid who liked to cut class, spit rhymes, and wander the streets of Greenwich Village with a motley crew of artists, rappers, and DJs who found hip hop more inspiring than their textbooks (much to the chagrin of the educator parents who had given their son an Afrocentric name in hope of securing for him a more traditional sense of pride and purpose).
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Dropping Gems
- By Steve B. on 02-26-21
By: Talib Kweli
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Major Labels
- A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres
- By: Kelefa Sanneh
- Narrated by: Kelefa Sanneh
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Kelefa Sanneh, one of the essential voices of our time on music and culture, has made a deep study of how popular music unites and divides us, charting the way genres become communities. In Major Labels, Sanneh distills a career’s worth of knowledge about music and musicians into a brilliant and omnivorous reckoning with popular music - as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities.
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Pure Pleasure Cultural History
- By A. Yerkes on 11-09-21
By: Kelefa Sanneh
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Music
- A Subversive History
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Histories of music overwhelmingly suppress stories of the outsiders and rebels who created musical revolutions and instead celebrate the mainstream assimilators who borrowed innovations, diluted their impact, and disguised their sources. In Music: A Subversive History, Ted Gioia reclaims the story of music for the riffraff, insurgents, and provocateurs. Gioia tells a 4,000-year history of music as a global source of power, change, and upheaval.
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Tour de force
- By W. Norman on 11-02-19
By: Ted Gioia
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How Music Works
- By: David Byrne
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman, David Byrne
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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How Music Works is David Byrne’s incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economic, social or technological.
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An Examination of Music and Sound Unlike Any Other
- By Judi S. on 03-14-23
By: David Byrne
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Dilla Time
- The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm
- By: Dan Charnas, Jeff Peretz - contributor
- Narrated by: Dan Charnas
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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He wasn’t known to mainstream audiences, even though he worked with renowned acts like D’Angelo and Erykah Badu and influenced the music of superstars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He died at the age of 32, and in his lifetime he never had a pop hit. Yet since his death, J Dilla has become a demigod: revered by jazz musicians and rap icons from Robert Glasper to Kendrick Lamar; memorialized in symphonies and taught at universities.
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Only a few chapters in <3
- By Chris Johnson on 02-05-22
By: Dan Charnas, and others
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Act Like You Got Some Sense
- And Other Things My Daughters Taught Me
- By: Jamie Foxx
- Narrated by: Jamie Foxx, Corinne Foxx
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Jamie Foxx has won an Academy Award and a Grammy Award, laughed with sitting presidents, and partied with the biggest names in hip-hop. In Act Like You Got Some Sense, Jamie shares up close and personal stories about the tough love and old-school values he learned growing up in the small town of Terrell, Texas; his early days trying to make it in Hollywood; the joys and challenges of achieving stardom; and how each phase of his life shaped his parenting journey. Hilarious, poignant, and always brutally honest, this is Jamie Foxx like we’ve never seen him before.
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What a Dad
- By Martha Maderal on 10-21-21
By: Jamie Foxx
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Chuck D. Presents This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History
- By: Chuck D., Shepard Fairey - foreword
- Narrated by: Chuck D., D.R.E.S. tha BEATnik, Shepard Fairey - foreword
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on Chuck's long-running show on Rapstation.com, this massive compendium details the most iconic moments and influential songs in the genre's recorded history, from Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to Kendrick Lamar's groundbreaking verse on "Control". Also included are key events in hip hop history, from Grandmaster Flash's first scratch through Tupac's holographic appearance at Coachella.
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Poor fidelity intro, sloppy production
- By Amazon Customer on 04-12-19
By: Chuck D., and others
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The Story of Music: From Babylon to the Beatles
- How Music Has Shaped Civilization
- By: Howard Goodall
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Music is an intrinsic part of everyday life, and yet the history of its development from single notes to multilayered orchestration can seem bewilderingly complex. In his dynamic tour through forty thousand years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation - harmony, notation, sung theater, the orchestra, dance music, recording - strikes us with its original force.
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Great intro to musc history
- By Enthusiast on 03-06-16
By: Howard Goodall
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Sweat the Technique
- Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius
- By: Rakim
- Narrated by: Rakim
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The musician and hip-hop legend - hailed as “the greatest MC of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk - reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that incorporates the soulful genius, confidence, and creativity of a master artist.
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Solid
- By Troy on 09-27-19
By: Rakim
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12 Notes
- On Life and Creativity
- By: Quincy Jones
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Quincy Jones
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Wisdom and musings on creativity and life from one of the world’s most beloved musicians, producers, and mentors, Quincy Jones. 12 Notes is a self-development guide that will affirm that creativity is a calling that can and should be answered, no matter your age or experience.
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great..
- By carl owens on 04-15-22
By: Quincy Jones