Questlove Unravels the Mysteries of Sly Stone's Funk Rock Legacy in New Music Doc. “Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” — Watch the Trailer
Questlove Explores the Life and Legacy of Funk Rock Legend Sly Stone in His New Music Documentary – A Spiritual Follow-Up to His Oscar-winner "Summer of Soul"
Ahmir Thompson a.k.a. "Questlove" isn’t just a funky drummer for the award-winning hip-hop, funk band The Roots. He’s not only the quasi-band leader and drummer for the in-house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, nor just a music historian and hip-hop expert. Questlove wears many hats and spins many plates. He used his fame and music knowledge to make his feature film debut with the 2021 musical documentary Summer of Soul, which was composed from newly discovered lost footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Music Festival—an event that almost became lost to time. For his efforts, Questlove took home the Oscar for Best Documentary that year.
Now, if you didn’t know that, it might have been because you were distracted by social media at the time, as it was the category Chris Rock presented when he was infamously slapped by Will Smith. We bet many missed Questlove's Oscar speech (you can watch his speech here), as they were probably more occupied with scrolling through social media to see what others were saying about the slap that was heard around the world.
Part of the footage from the Harlem Cultural Festival included a rare live appearance from Sly & The Family Stone, the renowned 1970s funk rock band that delivered an electrifying and pulsating performance. Watching the footage in Summer of Soul, viewers couldn’t help but wonder: why haven’t we heard more about what happened to Sly Stone? Why does it feel like he arrived like a funky, shimmering tornado, and before we knew it, he was gone?
Well, Questlove delves into that mystery behind the ‘70s funk rock god in his follow-up to Summer of Soul, which seems to serve as a companion piece or spiritual sequel, perhaps even an extension of the Oscar-winning documentary.
In Sly Lives (aka The Burden of Black Genius), Questlove once again combs through a treasure trove of archival footage, lost interviews, and rare live performances as he examines the life and legacy of one of the most magnetic funk rock bands in history, Sly & The Family Stone. The documentary also delves into the mystery surrounding Sly Stone's unfortunate disappearance from the spotlight, as he retreated from show business and embraced a less glamorous lifestyle after years of addiction and personal struggles.
"If you've been on this heightened, explosive life, your body has taken so much energy, and you've given out so much energy, and you stop," rapper (and flutist) André 3000 points out in the newly released trailer for the documentary. (Watch it above.) "Where's that energy go?" he asks in a reflective tone, seemingly suggesting that no one could survive such a ride like the one Sly Stone was on.
Sly Lives! just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week. And the reviews are in. There are mostly positive:
"Questlove confronts the life and legacy of Sly Stone, investigates it, holds it up to the light, tears it apart, and puts it back together like the bravura mixmaster he is. Sly’s first hit was ‘Dance to the Music’, and Questlove wants you to dance to the music, to feel it and think it, know how it was made, and hear how its vibrations went out into the world."
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
"The subtitle 'The Burden of Black Genius' lets you know Questlove is after bigger game here. Having reached the sort of popularity that goes beyond crossover status and into the realm of the iconic, (Sly) Stone is peaking when he decides to move operations from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. He’s also starting to buckle under the pressure, some of which come from his own self-sabotaging behavior, and others which comes from having to represent on a whole new stage. 'There’s no blueprint for what comes next,' notes author and academic Mark Anthony Neal about Stone’s post-Woodstock moment. 'There is no Black Elvis.'"
— David Fear, Rolling Stone
"In Sly Lives! Questlove sets out to understand the tensions faced by Black geniuses, artists who always seem ahead of the curve and whose talents defy comprehension. He uses Stone — a person whom the award winning DJ and producer has long admired — to illustrate a broader thesis about what the United States wants from Black celebrities, and what happens when those expectations aren’t met. Depending on the audience, these questions won’t yield revelatory answers. But the journey they take Questlove on — and what they allow the director to uncover about Stone, his band, their music and legacy — makes the doc worth watching when it streams on Hulu next month."
— Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) will start streaming on Thursday, February 13th, exclusively on Hulu and Disney+, following its Park City debut this weekend.
Meanwhile, you can also stream Questlove’s Oscar-winning music documentary Summer of Soul which is still available on Hulu and Disney +.
