Questlove is one of many who mourned over Prince’s death on his social media. He wrote out a loving tribute to the pop star which ‘Rolling Stone’ published. He spoke on Prince being one of his biggest influences since he was younger.
He says,
Prince’s relationship to hip-hop has been the subject of much scrutiny, and more than a little mockery. It’s commonplace to say that he couldn’t figure out rap music, and to point to the sometimes stilted appearances of rappers on his records in the early Nineties. But at heart, he was more hip-hop than anyone.
Think of 1999 again — or rather 1982. It was such a banner year for the use of drum machines, from Arthur Baker to Afrika Bambaataa. Prince’s programming work on 1999 was beyond anything I had ever heard, just as innovative as the best hip-hop producers in the years to come: the Bomb Squad, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla.
Prince had such a huge impact on a lot of people.
Quest went on to speak on meeting Prince, the influence Purple Rain had on him and more. Check out the full essay here.
Source: Complex
