Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is a drummer, producer, director, author, and DJ. He's also a member of the famous hip-hop group The Roots and the Musical Director of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where The Roots are the house band. Through music, film, and writing, Questlove explores how music reflects the culture and times it comes from.

Early Life

Questlove was born in Philadelphia in 1971 and grew up in a musical family. His father, Lee Andrews, led the doo-wop group Lee Andrews & the Hearts, and Questlove started performing with his dad's band when he was only 12.

While studying at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, he met Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter. Together, they formed The Roots in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group became one of the most respected names in hip-hop, known for blending rap with live instruments and a huge range of musical styles. 

Ahmir Questlove ThompsonMY HERO

Bringing Hidden History to Light

Questlove has always been interested in how music connects to history and society. He believes songs can reveal what life was like when they were made - and that important stories can be lost forever if no one works to save them. As he put it in his book Music Is History:

 "I have thought often about how history happens twice: once when an event actually occurs and once when people discover that it has occurred. That second time is the first time for them, because they didn't know about the first time."

This idea led him to direct his first film, Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The documentary tells the story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts featuring stars like Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, B.B. King, and Sly & the Family Stone.

The festival happened in New York the same summer as Woodstock. But while Woodstock became a famous part of history, the Harlem concerts were almost forgotten - hours of amazing footage sat unwatched for decades. However, Questlove brought that footage back to life, creating a film that celebrated Black music and culture while telling an important piece of history. Summer of Soul won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and later won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Writing

Questlove's love of teaching also shows up in his books. In Hip-Hop Is History, he explores the first 50 years of hip-hop, connecting the music to the social and cultural events that shaped it. His books encourage readers to look past the music itself and understand the people, ideas, and history behind it.

In 2024, he published his first children's book, The Idea in You. It encourages kids to follow their imagination and find their own creative ideas:

An idea can come from anywhere.
Start here: reach up into the sky
and unhook a star.

Questloveat at Barnes & NobleMY HERO

Illustrated by award-winning artist Sean Qualls, the book shares a message that's been true throughout Questlove's own life: creativity doesn't have to fit into one box. An idea can turn into music, art, writing, film — or something that's never existed before.

For Questlove, music and creativity are a way of understanding the world. He's spent his career proving that a great drum break, a forgotten concert film, or a picture book can all carry the same idea: that creativity connects people across generations and cultures.

"It is true that how you come to history has everything to do with how history comes to you."