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Questlove To Direct “Live-Action/Hybrid” Remake Of Disney’s “The Aristocats”

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Hip Hop and Disney are once again colliding, and Questlove is at the helm of a new project. The music veteran has solidified himself as a respected icon in the industry. After helping curate a mega-performance at this year’s Grammys, Quest is moving on to The Artistocats. Deadline exclusively reported that Questlove, real name Ahmir Thompson, will make his official feature film directorial debut with this upcoming project. The remake of Disney’s animated 1970 classic is described as a “live-action/hybrid reimagining.” Additionally, Quest will also overhead the music for the film. It’s unclear if that means the soundtrack, the score, or all.

As far as the talent is concerned, we’ll have to wait for an announcement. Deadline didn’t share if Walt Disney Studios had anyone in mind to star in the film just yet. However, it was revealed that Two One Five Entertainment’s Tarik Trotter, Shawn Gee and Zarah Zohlman would act as executive producers along with Olive Bridge. This is a huge move for Questlove, who won Best Documentary Feature at last year’s Oscars for Summer of Soul.

Questlove Tackles a Family Favorite

Disney has revisited several of their fan favorites over the years. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and most recently, The Little Mermaid have all received remakes. The Aristocats centered on a group of cats in Paris who will soon become rich after inheriting money from their owner. However, the butler is looking out for himself and tries to get rid of the felines. The kitties band together and go on a wild adventure to make it back home.

News about Questlove’s latest gigs arrives just one month after Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary was honored at the Grammys. It wouldn’t have happened without the help of The Roots icon, who orchestrated having dozens of Rap’s finest share the stage. It wasn’t an easy feat—some people didn’t get along, others were booked, and a few just didn’t want to participate. The drummer even took the criticism from fans in stride and answered questions from frustrated social media users. Yet, overall, the reception was positive, and many of our pioneers received their deserved flowers. Take a walk down memory lane and check out a clip of The Aristocats above.

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Questlove Is Set To Direct Disney’s Next Live-Action Remake, ‘The Aristocats’

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Questlove has been a pretty busy guy lately — but not so busy that he can’t take on just one more high-profile project, potentially his biggest one yet. While he’s got a lot on his plate — in addition to continuing his role as The Roots’ bandleader on The Tonight Show, he’s launching a publishing imprint, keeping up his award-winning Questlove Supreme podcast, and executive-producing a docuseries about J Dilla — he’s about to become the director of Disney’s latest live-action remake project: The Aristocats.

For those who haven’t been putting their Disney Plus subscription to work, The Aristocats follows the adventures of a family of rich kitties (hence, “Aristocats” — get it?) who are left a massive fortune in their owner’s will. Her vengeful butler, however, catnaps them and abandons them in the French countryside, and its only with the the help of O’Malley, a streetwise alley cat, that they can make it back to Paris and the fortune that awaits them.

The 1970 animated original was distinguished by its extensive use of jazz to drive home the themes of the plot — O’Malley hangs with a swingin’ band, while the Duchess and her kittens are classically-trained musicians (it’s a cartoon, just go with it) — so Questlove, a musical encyclopedia with legs, is the perfect person to direct a live remake. And, as a bonus, some of the more racially insensitive caricatures can be quietly removed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Quest’s also overseeing the music for the film and producing via his Two One Five Entertainment company — along with The Roots partners Black Thought and Shawn Gee, as well as Will Gluck and Zarah Zohlman. Stay tuned for more news to come.

Questlove Once Got Mistaken For Afroman And Chased Through London

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Questlove has dedicated his lengthy and highly-decorated career to uplifting Black people. He’s launched his new publishing imprint Auwa Books. He’s organized the 50th anniversary of hip hop tribute at this year’s Grammy Awards. He’s made public archival footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival for his Oscar Award-winning, documentary Summer Of Soul. He’s spoken out against the erasure of African-American studies in Florida schools. He’s done it all. Yet despite all of his accomplishments, still, to some, all Black people look alike.

After “Because I Got High” musician Afroman was sued by several Ohio police officers because he used footage of their botched raid of his home, Questlove took to Instagram for an epic storytime. Long story short, back in 2003, Questlove got mistaken for Afroman and was chased through London by fans of the musician.

In the post shared to Instagram, Questlove writes, “Man. The one time in my life I got chased in a city unprepared ‘Speed Demon’ video style was when I had a day off in London. I thought I’d hang around the old neighborhood and go record shopping. I had zero clue that ‘Because I Got High’ was a massive hit in Europe.”

When spotted by, as he put it, “[t]hree drunk dudes,” shouting, “Oh sh*t Afroman! ‘because I got high,’” things quickly escalated. Questlove continued, “[It] started with three dudes, and then they got belligerent, and now the site of me speed walking only confirms their drunken notions. Now it’s 4….soon 7. Now, I’m crossing the street, almost getting hit cause I forget the traffic goes the opposite way. Now it’s a mob of 11 yelling and singing ‘Because I Got High.’”

Questlove confesses the experience “[w]as more annoying than dangerous.” Still, he’s “Slightly irked that I know to this day those mofos for the last 20 years have been the life of the party giving their version of spotting a one-hit wonder who refused to show his gratitude when they acknowledged him.”

Questlove Launched A Book Publishing Imprint And Its First Two Releases Are, Of Course, Centered Around Music

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Questlove is one of the most celebrated musicians of the present day. The Grammy Award-winning artist’s latest business venture is the perfect avenue for him to bridge together his wide array of passions. In a new interview with The New York Times, the entertainer (real name Ahmir Khalib Thompson) revealed that he’s launching his own book imprint at MCD Books.

Named in homage to the late Prince, Auwa Books will feature, in his words, “a mix of fiction and nonfiction that ranges from memoirs to books about music history and business.”

The first release slate to be released from the company is funk music icon Sly Stone’s memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) written with Ben Greenman. Next year, Thompson and Greenman will team up for Hip-Hop Is History, an examination of hip-hop’s first 50 years.

When asked about what inspired him to launch the imprint, Thompson said, “With the rapid influx of death happening with Black creators and no one to pass the recipes down, I wanted to bring action to a dire situation.” This was the driving force behind his Oscar Award-winning documentary Summer Of Soul.

He later added, “I’m in a phase of my life where I’m trying to rebuild the world I never had myself as a kid,” he said. “Through this imprint, I’m offering a platform.”

Questlove has already written several books of his own, including Mo’ Meta Blues, Creative Quest, and Music Is History; with a children’s book on the way, there’s no doubt Auwa Books will be a success.

Black Thought Filled In For Trugoy In De La Soul’s ‘Tonight Show’ Performance Of ‘Stakes Is High’

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De La Soul’s de facto “comeback” has been bittersweet; while the group’s groundbreaking catalog has finally come to streaming platforms, it only did so after one member of the trio, Trugoy The Dove, died at the age of just 54 years old.

However, the remaining members, Posdnous and Maseo, are trucking along as best they can. They stopped by The Tonight Show this week, where they took the stage with the band to perform one of their signature songs, “Stakes Is High,” with The Roots. Black Thought helped fill the void left by Dave’s passing, rapping his verses with perfect chemistry alongside Pos — an unsurprising development, considering the impact “Stakes Is High” has had on hip-hop. Who doesn’t know those iconic rhymes?

Ahead of the performance, house band leader Questlove gave De La some flowers, telling them how much they influenced The Roots. “For the first time, we just saw, like, ourselves,” he said. “This is how the group bonded, Tariq [Black Thought] and I. We saw three friends just having fun with each other, practical jokes and all that stuff, and we had never seen that in hip-hop before.”

Meanwhile, De La’s entree to the streaming world has been pretty successful; their game-changing debut, 3 Feet High And Rising, re-entered the Billboard 200 with a new peak of No. 15.

Watch De La Soul and The Roots perform the classic “Stakes Is High” above.

Questlove Told De La Soul How They Changed His Life And Perception Of Hip-Hop Back In The Day On ‘Fallon’

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For years now, a critical component of hip-hop history has been missing from the streaming music landscape: De La Soul. Finally, though, the trio’s music hit Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest last month. Tragically, however, this all finally came together shortly after the death of member Trugoy The Dove. To celebrate their streaming debut, though, surviving members Posdnuos and Maseo visited The Tonight Show yesterday (March 16) to talk about it.

A couple minutes into the conversation, Jimmy Fallon spoke about how the trio’s debut album, 1989’s 3 Feet High And Rising, has changed the lives of so many music fans and asked Questlove to share how the album changed him. Quest explained, “For the first time, we just saw, like, ourselves. This is how the group bonded, Tariq [Black Thought] and I. We saw three friends just having fun with each other, practical jokes and all that stuff, and we had never seen that in hip-hop before.”

Elsewhere during the conversation, Fallon started by acknowledging Trugoy’s death and how hard the current De La Soul revival must be in light of that. Posdnuos noted that it’s been “bittersweet.”

Later in the episode, the pair teamed up with The Roots for a performance of “Stakes Is High.”

Watch the interview above and the performance below.

Questlove Continues To Conquer All Mediums By Winning A Major Award For His ‘Questlove Supreme’ Podcast

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Questlove is always hyping up others, whether that be Lil Yachty for his idiosyncratic new album Let’s Start Here or Meg White from The White Stripes after she received criticism on social media. He’s gotten recognition of his own, too: The Roots have won three Grammys and Questlove picked up a Best Documentary Oscar in 2022. Now, his trophy case continues to grow.

At the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards on Tuesday (March 14), his podcast Questlove Supreme won Best Music Podcast. It began in in 2016 on Pandora before moving onto iHeart in 2019. Other nominees for that category included Broken Record, Drink Champs, Listening, and Song Exploder.

Questlove is the perfect person to host a podcast, considering he’s always around to answer questions and give explanations to current events. Last month, he was on Twitter discussing rap representation at the Grammys.

One user asked, “Why was there no representation of talent from the 2010’s,” and Questlove replied, “because they said ‘no’, or they walked out.” Another said, “I’m sure there were all types of circumstances, but Ice-T as the Only LA representative, in Staples Center, in Los Angeles… is WILD!! Great performance otherwise.” Questlove answered, “welp: I asked like 10 legends so….sometimes you gotta go with the one who wants you. again might not be your preference but most of hip hop has side gigs. Acting was the main issue. lotta movies being shot.”

Questlove Is Absolutely Tired Of Criticism About Meg White’s Drumming Style For The White Stripes

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The White Stripes is one of the most beloved rock bands of its era and “Seven Nation Army” is a bona fide classic. The band is carried by Jack White’s distinct voice and his often-aggressive guitar, as well as by Meg White’s relatively simple drumming style, the latter of which has often been criticized. A Twitter user revived that discourse recently and The Roots drummer and music historian Questlove was not hearing it.

Late last night/early this morning (March 14), Questlove shared a tweet from a user that read, “The tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they would’ve been with a half decent drummer. Yeah yeah I’ve heard all the ‘but it’s a carefully crafted sound mannnn!’ takes. I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having sh*tty percussion.”

To that, he responded, “I try to leave ‘troll views’ alone but this right here is out of line af. Actually what is wrong w music is people choking the life out of music like an Instagram filter—trying to reach a high of music perfection that doesn’t even serve the song (or music).” He added in another tweet, “This is why I walk that Dilla path and play like a drunken sloppy af amateur because them flaws is the human element in music that is missing. Real film >>>>>>> IG filter photo.”

In a 2002 interview, Meg White said of the criticism she faced, “I appreciate other kinds of drummers who play differently, but it’s not my style or what works for this band. I get [criticism] sometimes, and I go through periods where it really bothers me. But then I think about it, and I realize that this is what is really needed for this band. And I just try to have as much fun with it as possible.”