This is the second book by Questlove that I didn’t love (after Creative Quest), and frankly it bums me out. He’s so smart and charismatic in interviews, he’s a musical genius and a living legend. The Roots album Do You Want More?!!!??! was a staple for teenage me.

But this isn’t a great book.

This book, in theory, is a trip through modern musical history, as it relates to, responds to, and influences major world events. That sounds like something I’d love — it was a highlight in Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in the Bathroom, as she contextualized the impact of 9/11 on artists like The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

This isn’t that, though. Questlove draws many lines between samples, influences and connections between artists over the years, but it stays surface-level. There’s a ton of trivia here — how samples were used in unusual contexts, how certain musicians wound up working together (or not), hidden gems and details about song origins. It also feels toothless in the same way Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show does.

There’s not any real insight. It’s written like a series of blog posts, and probably would have been more effective as such, because it could have included audio clips or YouTube embeds.

Each chapter is (often loosely) centred around a year — starting in 1971 and ending in 2002. There’s a theme for each chapter but they’re often vague or nearly nonsensical: “Different people enter history at different points on the timeline”, for example, or “Each of us is surrounded by others, who in turn are surrounded by us”. The chapters are short and usually personal. Questlove is at his best when he’s telling stories about himself, his band, or his family. Almost every other topic either felt undercooked (like the noncommittal ‘art from the artist’ discussion of Michael Jackson), or toothlessly anodyne (anytime Trump is mentioned).

I’m sure in a lecture format or as a music documentarian, Questlove would be unmatched. Questlove could make a Black-centric version of Alan Cross’ Ongoing History of New Music, and it would likely be astonishingly good. I’ve been told his memoir is fantastic too, but this isn’t enough of any of those.