Questlove

Questlove, drummer of The Roots, is a devotee of music and history, and his ability to see them simultaneously makes this a dual nostalgic and forward-looking effort, especially if you were alive and listening from 1971-2001. Each chapter begins with a brief rundown of the primary historical events of that year, followed by whose music was making Questlove dance during that time, and which cultural events carried the most influence that year and in subsequent ones as well. He shares his show more strategy of looking forward and back and of the value of seeing the prevailing contexts. There are in depth explorations of James Brown, Michael Jackson, Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Janet Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Spike Lee, Tears For Fears, Run-DMC, Kurt Cobain, and Public Enemy. There are cogent analysis of feuds (Aretha vs Steely Dan, "Hey Nineteen"; Rosa Parks vs Outkast, "Rosa Parks", East vs West Coast rap); all forms of music production, from his parents' jazz albums to cassettes, Napster, CDs, MTV, Soul Train, mix tapes growing into sampling, and streaming; Blaxploitation movies; protest music; his fruitless encounter with Bill Withers, one of his idols; "Black Cool", as commencing with Muhammed Ali; disco's short life and quick fall; the development of synthesizers, electronic music, and drum tracks; the critical importance of the e minor key; and Mariah Carey's memoir. It’s pure joy to behold Questlove's fondness for songs you'd never associate with him: Miss Me Blind by Culture Club; Right Place, Wrong Time by Dr. John; In Memory of Elizabeth Reed by the Allman Brothers; Voices Inside My Head by The Police; Onomatopoeia by Todd Rundgren; Hyperactive by Thomas Dolby; Brass in Pocket by The Pretenders; Too Shy by Kajagoogoo; Valerie by Amy Winehouse; and Peaches en Regalia, by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Questlove’s allegiance to music made by Black people is strong and most appreciative, but he also shares how he was and is influenced by white musicians also. Read it, listen to it, or do both! show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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His dad. He was walking and talking with his dad. And his dad was...kinda cool? Rahim didn't know what was more shocking—the fact he had traveled back in time or that his dad was once actually pretty fun to be around.

WHAT'S THE RHYTHM OF TIME ABOUT?
Kasia is a homeschool nerd/computer genius. Her parents run a vegan co-op and help community gardens throughout the city. They know she's smarter than them, but they also know they don't show more fully appreciate how much smarter she is. For example, she's designed a drone that can adapt, speak, and add features as it sees fit. She's also made a (admittedly unattractive) smartphone for her best friend so he can call her and do homework.

Rahim lives next door to her and to call his father a Luddite is to understate things—and it'd probably result in a lecture from him about the inaccuracy of using the term for him. He's a history professor who won't allow computers, etc. in his home—his encyclopedias are good enough for Rahim's homework, thank you very much*. He's not that crazy about Rahim's love of music or sports, either.

* Sure, it's impossible in 2023 for even a grade school student to do homework without the Internet, we all know that. Shhh. Roll with it for the purposes of the book.

Rahim is overjoyed with his gift (although he does make a crack about its looks) and starts to use it right away. It takes him very little time to see that if he does things in a certain way, the phone will transport him instantly to various places. Kasia doesn't understand that, but before she can figure out how that happens, Rahim discovers (the hard way) that the phone also works to send him to the past.

While Kasia tries to figure out how to get him home, she tells him to keep from interacting with anyone as much as possible. She starts trying to see what the satellites she hacked into to give Rahim his phone are doing to him and Rahim sees a kid about his age being bullied and before common sense can restrain him, he intervenes and saves the kid. The bullied kid turns out to be Omar, or as Rahim calls him, "Dad."

Oops.

And well...things get worse from there.

THE TAKE ON TIME TRAVEL

Time itself is being pulled and stretched, and I'm kinda afraid it's gonna crumble like graham crackers dunked in milk.

Like any self-respecting time-travel story, particularly one where the traveler meets a relative, things start to unravel—the timeline, future events, etc. And not just in the expected ways—the first sign we have that anything's going wrong is that a different team wins the '97 NBA Championship. There's no relation to anyone in the book to anyone in the NBA (that the reader knows of), so the problems in the timeline aren't starting out in the typical way. The authors deserve some big points for that.

Nor do the time travel-induced anomalies continue to play out the way they usually do. It's when things are nearing their worst that Kasia says that about graham crackers in milk (a visual that has stuck with me for days).

(Mild Spoilers ahead in this paragraph) Some things remain constant—Rahim's parents still get together and live next to Kasia and her family. Kasia's just as smart, too (thankfully). And just when you start to think that maybe, just maybe, we're going to get a Back to the Future kind of ending where things went differently for Rahim's father and he found a different kind of success—but Rahim (for reasons you might not expect) decides to try a plan-so-crazy-that-it-just-might-work to restore the timeline. Emphasis on the might.

THE GOVERNMENT TYPES
Disrupting, disturbing, distracting, and potentially disabling Kasia's efforts are a couple of government agents. They seem like moderately overzealous, humorless types who are trying to do their job—if it happens to allow them to bully a little girl, so be it.

Eventually, however, these agents prove to be better than we think. In doing so they show that some of the government assets that Kasia has been, um, "helping" herself to aren't exactly what she thinks they are. In fact, there's a connection between them and The Philadelphia Experiment. But we're not just treated to the typical urban legend version of the Philadelphia Experiment, Questlove and Cosby give the reader a Hidden Figures version of it. Which makes it all the more fun.

But just because there are all sorts of adults running around with official powers and equipment, don't think that it all doesn't come down to what Kasia and Rahim do. This is a Middle-Grade novel, after all.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE RHYTHM OF TIME?
It just felt so odd to be having so much fun on just about every page with Cosby's name on the cover. I enjoy his stuff, but it's not often that "fun" enters into the conversation. And fun is the best word to describe this.

The whole concept and the way it plays out are ridiculous—but they're entertaining, and if you can accept any part of it, you'll accept it all. And there's no reason not to suspend your disbelief enough to buy into the story—because it's not trying to be more than a fun adventure for grade school readers.* So just sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.

* Even if it had higher aspirations, you could still make the case for going along with things.

Rahim's a great guy, and you can see where Omar ends up becoming the Dad that he is—and how his parents become the versions of themselves Rahim would come to know as his grandparents. All of that was really well done.

Kasia is the type of impossible genius making tech in her bedroom that has been the stuff of cartoons and Middle-Grade fiction since I was reading it (when it was called "Juvenile Fiction.") Think Flavia de Luce meets Penny from Inspector Gadget meets Richie Foley (from Static Shock). I will read something about her anytime. If Rahim's along for the ride, so much the better.

The book ends with a clear sign that the story goes on, but none of the online sources I see refer to this as the first of a series. I hope it does go on—but it's also one of those endings that doesn't require a sequel. We know that Rahim and Kasia are going to be up to more adventures, and in a way, that's enough. By this point, the reader has enough to know how their adventures will go.

But I really hope the series keeps going.

Pick this up for some nice, uncomplicated fun for yourself or grab it for the Middle Schooler in your life (and then borrow it). show less

A delightful completely idiosyncratic document of not just Questlove's journey but of soul and hip-hop from the 1970's through the aughts. Q is a great tour guide: He is vulnerable, arrogant, brilliant, weird, loving, opinionated, and most importantly for these purposes unfailingly interesting. Also, that man just grew my liked songs on Spotify like kudzu (but good kudzu.) His taste is as broad as can be and his knowledge base is awe-inspiring and so I happily follow.

I don't honestly know if I have heard any of Questlove's music, however I have seen positive things about this book to the extent that I felt compelled to read it. It is an excellent, approachable, and insightful consideration of creativity of value to all: not just any form of artist, but any one. F. Scott Fitzgerald said:

"...let me make a general observation– the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the

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ability to function.

One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. This philosophy fitted on to my early adult life, when I saw the improbable, the implausible, often the "impossible," come true.”

This approach is a theme in Questlove's approach. Exercises include re-writing a review of your work to say the opposite, believe the opposite of one of your beliefs, etc. This makes me think of The Marshmallow Test. He also has interesting insights into how the Internet Age is making us focus on detail and lose the big picture, etc.

As a general music fan, I appreciate his regard for Clyde Stubblefield, Stevie Wonder, etc. show less