Questo of The Roots · @questlove
31st Jan 2011 from Twitlonger
@mattthomas 2 of my biggest influences on my "drunken" style are 2 drummers not known for their drumming:
stevie and prince.
i know its uber cliche and lazy when EVERY artist in black music lists them as influences but in this case their unorthodox style kinda caught my ear early.
stevie's gift is his process of hi hat and cymbal hitting. since he came from the school of motown in which two drummers would share simultaneous duties its only for him to utilize the same method on his own records.
peep "love having you around" on music of my mind album--that trombone solo is hillllllllarious. he hits that hi hat so free and sloppy. and the same with his zepplin bonzo style ride and crash cymbal work on "i wish", "all day sucker", "black man" and "that girl" hits it so hard you wanna call child services.
prince on the other hand
his fluctuating rhythm gives you the sense that an actual band is playing his stuff.
best demonstrated by his "careful or you'll drop it" drunken pace on Dirty Mind's title track. his overexcited virgin getting some muppet animal style of "irresistible bitch" the maniac drumline snare solo of "lady cab driver" and the inventiveness of Parades first four song suite.
when i jam with him (actually with them--once at P's crib) i dont channel the WW?D page. i channel the WWsw and WWpD page.
last month when he grabbed the bass i knew exactly where to go: ive learned when you jam w/ prince you get better results playing the drums as he woulda played it. which in my case worked like gangbusters (our "cloreen" was about 25 mins and marked the first time that 2 hour night he sang on the mic)
of course there are always "better" cats but sometimes better aint "better"
in other words---dylan is a poets poet.
but if i put him in a cypher with 5 killer mc's would he fare well?
same for 81 era steven vai....
would he fit in the jb's circa 69?
i look for more "color" and less "flash" when i jam with other cats---its easy to juggle 9 balls on a unicycle
but so much harder to make a mark keeping it simple.
the latter is my route.
if you're simplicity speaks louder than "LOOKATMELOOKATME!!!!!!!!!!"
then *thumbs up*