QUESTLOVE LISTS 40 REASONS WHY PRINCE WAS A HIP HOP PIONEER

Questlove has always been outspoken about the legacy of Prince and The Roots drummer went to Instagram to explain why the late, great Purple One was a hip hop pioneer. And you’ll be hard pressed to disagree with him.

1. came from troubled home
2. limited access to music forces him to create his own world of music
3. Overcame Poverty
4. creates fictional background tales to keep the press guessing
5. lives by the DIY creed
6. takes fashion taboos & makes them mainstream and acceptable
7. cock blocks & steals yo lady on the low (ask Rick)
8. puts his crew on—get them deals & makes them stars
9. pretty much wrote the book on gettin some better than any of his contemporaries
10. had beef w his peers who hated on him
11. invented the remix (not disco edits, but reimagining the album version)
12. played mystery card—let us think what we wanted—gave the press middle finger
13. ghostwrote for everyone
14. used mad aliases
15. refused 2 b ordinary & eschewed the proper English language as a ways 2 communicate
16. knew the B side wins again and again
17. used the exotic honey to his advantage
18. used his music to give his views on the po po, politicians, gun control, war, god, squares & “the man”
19. turned a long music video into a revolution
20. best drum machine programmer ever
21. used synthesizers as a way of life
22. could make an entire album in less than a week
23. balled so hard in Paris & other parts of France—so he made a film about it.
24. cut his crew off and got a new crew.
25. went all hippie like it was nothing.
26. made dis records
27. never wifed em, mostly replaced em
28. started his own label
29. Parental Advisory was invented because of him
30. made a Black Album w a chip on shoulder to prove to black people he was still bad.
31. plays sports better than u
32. had mad songs in the stash
33. had an MTV mansion/compound long before anyone did
34. changed looks constantly
35. dropped music on the net in record time
36. looked out for his peeps on the low doing benefits and raising money like a modern day Robin Hood
37. tries taking on the man for his complete freedom
38. couldn’t tell him NOTHING
39. always escaped into thin air
40. left us way too early