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| Questlove of The Roots |
by A.D. Amorosi
No one can cast doubt on how sleepless a schedule that Philly’s Ahmir Thompson – aka Questlove, aka ?uestlove – keeps. He’s currently producing, writing and drumming on the next album with The Roots in between that ensemble’s role as a house band for NBC TV’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and he has a full roster of DJing gigs across the country. He also runs a catering enterprise called Quest Loves Food, whose primary goal is fried chicken, and that company has a brick and mortar restaurant in the works. Yet with all this, there’s been something else Questlove has been working on: his long dormant record label, Okayplayer.
Okayplayer started in 1999 as a website offering information on The Roots’ burgeoning career. It then expanded into containing updates on friends including Madlib, J Dilla, Common, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, and D'Angelo. Okayplayer later branched out into having its own label, one whose last album, True Notes Vol.1 (a compilation with The Roots, RJD2, and Blackalicious) came out in 2004. After that, Okayplayer focused on merchandising, YouTube-like television, and production of the Roots Picnic, an annual outdoor concert in Philadelphia, PA that has become a nationally-known event.
On August 14, 2012, Questlove announced that he was relaunching Okayplayer as a digital label (for now), and that its first releases would be coming from producer MC Danny! and break-beats innovator Young Guru. While Danny!'s Payback album comes out on September 25, Young Guru’s instrumental album Essentials Vol 1 is due for October 9 release.
No rest for the wickedly awesome it seems.
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Photo courtesy Press Here Publicity, all rights reserved
For more info on Okayplayer: www.Okayplayer.com
For more of our coverage on Questlove read:
Night Market Wows Washington Avenue with Quest Loves Food Pop-Up
