Ahmir Thompson, better known as Questlove, is joint frontman of the Roots, which he formed with Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter in 1987 in their native Philadelphia. Stalwarts of US hip-hop, the Roots are also the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In his spare time, Questlove, 55, produces records, writes books and makes films. Summer of Soul, described by Mark Kermode as “the best music documentary I’ve ever seen”, won a Bafta and an Oscar in 2022. His latest, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That’s the Weight of the World), premiered at the Tribeca festival in June. On 8-9 August, Questlove and co will bring their annual Roots Picnic to the Crystal Palace Bowl in London, featuring artists such as Nas, Common and Sasha Keable.
You’ve been doing Roots Picnics in Philadelphia and other US cities since 2008. Why export it to London?
I don’t know if London knows how instrumental it is in the career of the Roots. On a whim [in 1993], we decided we were going to “pull a Hendrix” and move to London and we lived in Kentish Town for four years. In London, we learned the power of the jam session. We also played Glastonbury and other festivals and we were just mind-blown, because all we knew of festivals in the US was Woodstock, Live Aid and Lollapalooza. We were like, wouldn’t it be crazy if we brought this back to Philadelphia? Our first festival was small, like 3,000 people. Cut to last year with Jay-Z – it had grown so big, we technically couldn’t headline our own festival. So we were like, what if we were to take this on the road? And it’s only poetic that we take it back to the place that developed us: London.
How will it differ from other London festivals?
One difference is that we’re threaded through the entire festival. The Roots will be Nas’s band, which people have not seen before. Me, Robert Glasper, Common, Bilal and Burniss Travis will recreate a one-off live album we did during the pandemic. [Black Thought] is going to do his live mixtape thing with a bunch of MCs. The whole point is to give you an experience that you wouldn’t normally see elsewhere.
The Roots have been going for well over 30 years. A lot of members have come and gone. Does it still feel like the same band?
Well, we had to replace Leonard Hubbard on bass [after he quit in 2007 following a cancer diagnosis; he died in 2021]. But really, we just kept adding more people. It’s weird: when editing the Earth, Wind & Fire documentary, I was like, holy shit! I didn’t realise that we have more members than they did. When you think of Earth, Wind & Fire, you think of an army of people. But there were only nine. We’re 11. I just see it like we’re the travelling circus and people come and join us.
Did the tricky group dynamics within Earth, Wind & Fire resonate with you in any way?
You know it’s weird, I don’t think any of the films I made were by accident in terms of how they correlate with real life. So in the three years it took me to make that documentary, I started asking myself, “Am I an effective leader?” I’ve made an effort to really make sure that band morale is up and to listen better. I was shocked to hear them say, “Yeah, well, sometimes you are harsh when we hit a wrong note.” And so I’m more mindful of how I treat the guys, because at this rate the journey is ours to lose. This is the glory period. We just did Montreux jazz festival and that was probably our best ever moment on stage.
Barack and Michelle Obama appear as talking heads in the Earth, Wind & Fire documentary. How did that come about?
A lot of doors opened after Summer of Soul that I didn’t expect. I mean, dude, an Oscar and a Bafta were definitely not on my list. I thought I was just going to do a really cool project in the pandemic and you guys would discover it years later. Anyway, one of the first cold calls I got was from President Obama. I was ordering food from Uber Eats, and the phone rang, and I was like, “Yeah, come up to da-da-da floor.” And he’s like, “Huh? Oh, you think I’m a food delivery service? It’s me, Barry.” I was like, “Wait a minute, what?” So I asked him as a friend to be in the movie. [He and Michelle] were more than happy to do that, and I’m so glad they did.
Do you see yourself more as a film-maker than a musician these days?
I know it sounds cliched, but I want to use my documentaries to inspire people. The real lesson from Summer of Soul is the importance of joy and happiness, which we tend to dismiss, but that’s crucial. This Earth, Wind & Fire film, to me, is about how to deal with fear, how to breathe. I almost feel like it’s an obligation for me to make these films so that my fellow musicians can see their work differently. A lot of us got into hip hop because we wanted to get out of the hood and survive. I now want people to see their gift as a higher purpose and a higher meaning.
What are you working on now?
There’s a new [online] show that I have called The Next Move. My book company is going to do some more books. There’s the new Roots album, which will definitely be out at the top of next year. And there are two more film projects. I can’t give the titles away yet, but let’s just say I’ll be busy until 2032.
Will you be continuing your inquiry into great black musical artists of decades past?
Once you do one film, everyone comes running to you like, do more. So yes, absolutely.
Roots Picnic is at the Crystal Palace Bowl, London, on 8-9 August
Photograph by Christian Germoso