Hip-hop is such a disposable art form from a business standpoint. It never treats its artists as art; it never treats its product as art. Questlove More Quotes by Questlove More Quotes From Questlove Working with the artist elite can be like banging your head against the wall. Questlove banging-your-head wall artist The president is just the coach of a football team. You need the right support, the right stadium, the right players, the right staff. An excellent coach is not going to win games. Questlove team winning football I think all of this—The Roots and DJing included—was meant to prepare me for The Tonight Show. Questlove tonight roots thinking In terms of being a 'sneakerhead,' there was one point where I was obsessively following every sneaker blog. That's the beauty of Twitter: To get the heads up on what's coming out. Questlove sneakers coming-out term Every time a new record started, people exhaled with pleasure, or their bodies moved automatically. I really started getting high off of the euphoric exclamations. Every record I put on was like a baptism. Questlove records baptism people It's a funny word, persistence. It means not giving up, but it also means just passing on through time. Questlove persistence giving-up mean Switching off perfection switched on the human quality Questlove switching quality perfection I prefer to unwind by DJing. I learned that from Mike D from the Beastie Boys. After a show, he would DJ. Once I saw that, I wanted to do that. And now DJing is like my lifeline. I love the power it represents. Questlove unwind saws boys Classical music requires an immense amount of concentration, and I don't know if I would've been that committed to that particular life. Questlove concentration classical-music committed In the 2000s, I became an artist. I started preserving and educating. I became more obsessed with making iPod playlists for people. Questlove ipods artist people My first gig was at Radio City Music Hall when I was 13. Questlove gigs radio cities I believe that the only people who really, truly benefit from any of the policies of Republicans are the wealthy. I'm in that 1 percent tax bracket, but I'm not a man of wealth. Questlove men believe people I'm a 24-hour tweet machine, I'm a 24-hour blogger. When there's no pressure on me, I can talk and write and lecture with the best of them. But put a deadline on me and I start getting writer's block. Questlove machines block writing I do secret stand-up shows around New York. I announce and tweet this to nobody - I get onstage and I do a quick five minutes. Questlove tweet new-york secret During the 2008 election, I made clear to the Obama campaign that I don't think it's wise for me to force my personal political agenda on anyone. Questlove political wise thinking I have a lot of those 'Forrest Gump,' I-was-there moments. Questlove forrest-gump moments According to my parents, I just started drumming when I was two. I traveled with them from five to seven on the road, playing percussion. Between 8 and 12, my dad sort of prepared me by teaching me every aspect of road life. Questlove dad teaching two I would love to have some sort of 'Back To The Future' Delorean time machine travel device so I could go back to 1981 to see that very first Jackson 5 concert I went to, back when I was a kid. Questlove future time love travel You know the greatest thing about working on 'Fallon?' I get so many anonymous gifts. Questlove gifts get know you I want the 'Roots' biopic to be animated - I see Charles Schulz drawing us. I think it would be more hilarious with the voices of children. Questlove think drawing roots children