Music Is History

By: Ahmir Khalib Thompson, Questlove

Narrated by: Questlove

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.

©2021 Ahmir Khalib Thompson (P)2021 Recorded Books, Inc.

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!

Great Listen/Read

I listened to this book at 1x speed so I could savor it. Brilliant book.

Unique & Interesting

What a unique and interesting way to share the history of music. Quest is a genius!

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.

Really Approachable Book!

I really enjoyed Quest’s writing (and reading) of this book. He connects some many dots when it comes to what was happening in the world at the time and how it influenced music (and vice versa). Great listen!