The Roots' Questlove recently appeared on Pitchfork's Over/Under video series. Over/Under asks musicians to discuss a variety of topics, and state whether they think they are overrated and over hyped or underrated and slept on. Questlove was asked about the reverence for 90's hip hop and he definitely thinks that period of music definitely deserves all the love it gets and more.
"No genre of hip hop, and no period of hip hop, really contextualized and kept alive the music of the past and what came before it more than ‘9o’s Hip-Hop," Questlove says. He goes on to detail how 90's hip hop's copious samples and influence from the jazz, funk, and pop music of earlier generations caused him to expand his appreciation of all types of music, not just rap and hip hop. "They were using what I call the boring section of your parents’s record collection... They’re making miracles of it. That, to me, brought it full circle."
You can watch the full episode of Over/Under here. Besides 90's hip hop, Questlove also gives his opinion on a wide variety of random topics, including Ding Dong snack cakes and the quality of the iPhone's auto correct system.
If you'd like to hear Questlove delve deeper into his love of music, he runs a weekly radio show on Pandora entitled "Questlove Supreme," in which The Roots percussionist shows off his eclectic taste in music with diverse playlists, interviews with a variety of musical guests, and occasional deep dives into a specific topic of music production or history.
