Questlove 'nerds out' on new projects, talks EGOT chances and a potential Beyoncé Grammy sweep

NEW YORK – Questlove is not resting on his laurels after winning an Academy Award.

After scoring that Oscar this year for his directorial debut, "Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)," his given name, Ahmir Thompson, will pop up in the credits of many upcoming projects.

He's a producer of Netflix’s “Descendant” documentary (now streaming), which focuses on the history of the last known ship carrying enslaved Africans to the U.S.  He'll executive produce A&E's "James Brown: Say it Loud" docuseries, due next year, alongside his Roots partner Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Mick Jagger.

Questlove, 51, is also working on "Dilla Time," a documentary based on Dan Charnas' biography of the late record producer J. Dilla, and plans to direct a forthcoming documentary on Sly Stone. No release dates have been set.

In case the aforementioned film ensemble wasn’t enough, the self-described "renaissance man" has returned with the second installment of his “Quest for Craft” digital series. In the series, available on YouTube, The Roots co-founder has intimate conversations with celebrities including Kenan Thompson, Misty Copeland and writer Fran Lebowitz to discover their methods of unlocking creativity.

Such interviews are a passion for Questlove, but he says his curious habits became too much for his friends.

“I would scare a lot of my peer group because they're like, ‘Hey, can you just stop talking to me like a journalist and just be normal?’” he says, noting the time he called artist and producer Q-Tip at 3 a.m. to talk music modulations. Questlove says his "Questlove Supreme" podcast, working on "Quest for Craft" and his other projects allow him to "nerd out.”

The vessels of nerdom work well for him after racking up most of the awards "Summer of Soul" was nominated for. While sitting in a corner booth in a dimly lit restaurant and whisky bar in New York City, several blocks from his home as bandleader for NBC's "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," Questlove talks about his plans for scoring the missing "E" in EGOT,  society's recent obsession with music documentaries and picks a side in the Beyonce-vs.-Adele Grammy sweep debate. (Edited for length and clarity.)

Question: You had some big moments last year, winning both an Oscar and a Grammy. When do you expect the EGOT? 

Questlove: We've been working on a Disney+ series "Rise Up, Sing Out." I have my hopes for that. So now they have the kids' Emmys. (The first will be awarded in December.) They all register as an Emmy. So hopefully we'll get some shine on that, I'm really confident.

You are all in on music documentaries. It seems like the world is, too. Do you think there's an increased interest in the genre? 

I'm in a very unique position because right now, especially with where the pandemic had us, we realize the value of legacy and storytelling. When we were all in the house, it was like, "We need new ways to entertain ourselves so we've got to create more content."

So everyone's running to make a doc on this, to make a doc on that. For me, I'm elated to see it, especially with Black artists.

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From a hip-hop generation standpoint, we embrace death like it's a best friend. And yet we've seen figure after figure pass away with no legacy, no will and no way to tell their stories. For a lot of them, when you're just living in the present, you don't think that one day this will be history.

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Speaking of Black music legends, we recently learned that Aretha Franklin was tracked by the FBI for nearly 40 years. What do you think that means for musicians' space in society? 

I'm not shocked at all about Aretha being tracked, I'm shocked that it lasted that long.  She was an ardent supporter of Angela Davis, (and) paid for some of her lawyer fees. She fought the good fight. I hope people see this as exemplary. That, yes, even the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, knew the importance of political activism.

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My teachable lesson is "Wow, now the world's going to know that Aretha had political activism and just didn't celebrate being talented and rich."

What can you tell us about the documentaries on J. Dilla and Sly Stone? 

I'm going to take a different angle on Sly. We know he wrote wonderful music. But I really want to take a look at the burden of genius. We often think that just because a person has monetary success, they're in a joyful, happy place in their life. So I want to use the Sly doc as a means to answer (the question of) "Why do we self-sabotage?"

With Dilla, I mean, he's one of the best collaborators I've ever worked with in my life. He was such an amazing creative, and I hope that people will learn from this documentary what I learned from working with him. He taught me how one can listen to music, and then absorb it.

Grammy voting is about to start. It may be too early to answer, but between Adele and Beyonce, who's going to sweep? 

I really want Beyoncé to get her moment in the sun, and I feel like, for her, the cherry on top is getting an album of the year. ("Renaissance") is an achievement because I've never seen an album that, from start to finish, every song works. I literally stood next to (Jay-Z and Beyonce) in the club and watched this album play three times in a row. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a humongous Adele fan. But I don't want people to be dismissive of what just happened because it's easy to do that:  "Oh, a dance record. She could do it in her sleep." This is a very intricate, power-packed, message-filled risk of an album.  "Break My Soul" is the anthem that she's been dying to write, and stick, for her entire career.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Questlove is vying for Beyoncé this Grammy season; talks upcoming docs