Questlove reveals his favourite albums of the 1980s
Philadelphia rapper and former member of The Roots collective Questlove is a hip-hop icon and has made massive contributions to the culture over the years. As a producer, DJ and film director, the musician is a highly sought-after creative and true creative.
Questlove’s primary attraction is his production ability and extremely conscious art, with which he partners a very soulful and jazz-inspired type of sonic. The producer is also a known journalist and somewhat of a music historian.
That said, he has a broad range of tastes, and even during the 1980s, as he was gearing up to form The Roots with Black Thought, Questlove was listening to a range of genres, and some of them weren’t even close to the kind of music he ended up making. During interviews, many rappers reveal that during the ‘80s, they were listening to artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Sugar Hill Gang and the Funky Four Plus One — some of the earliest hip-hop groups of the era.
Still, as an instrumentalist and general music-lover, he appreciated more than just the trendy genre of the day. He didn’t focus purely on hip-hop but listened to everything from soul to funk and rock. However, he did listen to some hip-hop and even the rap he listened to wasn’t the soul-oriented style he produced when The Roots took off. Below is a list of Questlove’s most cherished albums from each year of the 1980s and his personal words on why they are so exceptional.
Questlove’s favourite albums of the 1980s:
Diana Ross – Diana (1980)
Diana Ross is renowned for her soulful voice and was known as the ‘Queen of Motown’ during the 1960s. As the lead vocalist of The Supremes, she was a bright star, and the beginning of her solo career in 1970 saw her begin a long journey to superstardom.
That said, Questlove became fascinated with her talents and in 1980, when the vocalist released her eleventh album, Diana, he was encapsulated by it. As such, to him, it is still the best album of that year.
Explaining how he first fell in love with the project, the Philly native told Vulture, “I spent the entire summer of 1980 living in a vacation resort called Frenchman’s Reef in the Virgin Islands. The Diana record was the only contemporary record that I heard because the owner of the nightclub where my parents were playing had it on continuously as filler music between my father’s shows.” But he doesn’t consider it filler music and loves it, even now.
The Time – The Time (1981)
The Time were a funk and rock band from Minneapolis that really had an effect on Questlove. Speaking about how enthralled he was when he first heard their 1981 song ‘After Hi School,’ the producer once revealed, “There was a kid in sixth grade whose mom allowed him to bring his boom box to the cafeteria. When “After Hi School” came on, I tripped over the cord and knocked his boom box over. I was blown away!”
The Time was the collective’s self-entitled debut, but as a Minneapolis-based group, they had a lot of music with Prince, who even sang background vocals on some of their songs and produced the collective’s third album, Ice Cream Castle, in its entirety.
Prince – 1999 (1982)
The iconic Prince was a behemoth of an artist and is still considered one of the best musicians of all time. Along with Michael Jackson, he completely shook up mainstream music worldwide and was effectively beloved by everyone, no matter their taste.
1999 was the legend’s fifth album but his first to ever enter the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. Although the project was out of this world, and Questlove wanted to play it loud, he once revealed he had to hide from his parents to hear ‘Lasy Cab Driver’, admitting, “One Saturday, the radio was on, and I realized they were about to play the sexy part in ‘Lady Cab Driver,’ so I ran to the kitchen and shattered a bowl. When I got back, Prince was on to the guitar solo!”
The Police – Synchronicity (1983)
Synchronicity was the last album The Police ever released, and it topped the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums chart. With songs such as ‘Every Breath You Take’ and ‘King Of Pain’, it is a far cry from hip-hop, yet it was his father’s disapproval of the song ‘Mother’ that made him take an interest in the project, which he then loved.
Questlove was often brought on tour with his father, the lead singer of Lee Andrews & the Hearts. Recalling his introduction to The Police, he once unveiled, “One day, we were driving to a bar gig. We had two vans. The family was in van one, and the band was in van two. When we pulled up alongside each other, ‘Mother’ was playing. ‘Turn that devil shit off in front of my son’, my father said. I was 12, so whatever was a no was an instant yes.”
Sheila E. – The Glamorous Life (1984)
The Glamorous Life was Questlove’s favourite album of 1984, and he had it on cassette for about six months. But according to a story told by the genius himself, his strict religious parents banned Sheila E in his house due to one line from ‘Oliver’s Party’.
Recalling how much he begged to get The Glamorous Life, Questlove explained, “I convinced my parents that even though Sheila E. sounded like Prince, she had nothing to do with him. But there’s a line from “Oliver’s Party” where she says, ‘She got drunk and called me a bitch just cuz I kissed him,’ and that was that. Goodbye, Sheila E.”
Jesse Johnson – Jesse Johnson’s Revue (1985)
Questlove had a love for funk music in his youth, as many hip-hop artists did, and one guitarist he really enjoyed was Jesse Johnson. Still, the Things Fall Apart musician admitted that when Prince left his original sound behind, he gravitated toward the solo work of his guitarist Jesse Johnson.
Remembering how he discovered Jesse Johnson’s Revue, the Philly creative explained, “Prince wanted to beat the Beatles at their own game. Around the World in a Day was his bid. I dug it. I loved it. But I also missed the straight, stripped-down Minneapolis funk, and that’s why I gravitated toward Jesse Johnson’s first record.”
Janet Jackson – Control (1986)
Questlove has worked with Janet Jackson before and has even been her DJ on three occasions. That said, he fell in love with Control, and for him, it is without fail the album he listened to the most in 1986.
When he interacted with Jackson, he once put on the song ‘He Doesn’t Know I’m Alive’ as it was one of the only songs from the project that didn’t blow up, and he wanted to show his love for the whole project. Recalling the event, Questlove once revealed, “I DJ’d for Janet three times, and she just shit when I put on ‘He Doesn’t Know I’m Alive,’ which is one of the few songs from that record that didn’t become a hit. I wanted to show her that she was important to me!”
Prince – Sign ‘O’ the Times (1987)
Questlove first heard this 1987 album in a Philadelphia laundromat and loved one of the songs so much that he taped over one of his cassettes to record it off the radio. A common practice back in the old days.
Detailing the story, the Organix creator told Vulture, “When I first heard ‘Housequake’, I was at a local laundromat, and when the song came on, with the Camille voice saying, ‘Shut up already … damn!’, I just freaked out. I ran right home to get my hands on a cassette player so I could tape it. I made it in time for Prince to say, ‘A groove this funky is on the run.’”
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Public Enemy is widely considered one of the most overtly political hip-hop groups ever. The collective was the precursor to political commentators such as 2Pac, and the New York group encouraged many artists to infuse a raw critique of society in their music and this was a big deal for Questlove.
In fact, the track ‘Show ‘Em Whatcha Got’ influenced him to leave his fast-food job and chase his dreams. Recalling how the album emboldened him, the emcee reflected, “I bought this cassette before I went to work. I wasn’t allowed to have my Walkman on when I cooked fries, so I kept sneaking to the freezer to hear “Show ’Em Whatcha Got.” It enlarged me. “I’m going on lunch break,” I said, but I knew I was never going back.”
Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
The Beastie Boys were one of just many trios coming out of New York in the 1980s. Comprised of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock, the collective, akin to Run-DMC, were an act embracing the many parallels between rock and rap music, and it was a sound that couldn’t be stopped during the decade.
That said, Questlove was a huge fan and loved the genre-fusing sonic of the Beastie Boys. In fact, it was what inspired him to make music. Speaking about its influence on him, the instrumentalist once recalled, “Here was an album making art of my dad’s soft rock and yacht rock and my sister’s mainstream junior-high-school rock albums. It’s when I realized I wanted to make records.”