By Hayden Wright
When he saw Prince’s faec on the cover of The Source magazine, Questlove felt inspired to hammer out 40 reasons why the Purple One should be considered a hip-hop pioneer. In April, Quest penned a long essay for Rolling Stone exploring Prince’s influence on the genre.
Related: Questlove Remembers Prince as a Hip-Hop Forebearer
It’s a lengthy roundup but a great one—the Roots bandleader shouts out to Prince’s prowess on the drum machine, his lack of regard for standard English grammar, “invention” of the remix and killer B-sides. Prince’s lifestyle, like his affinity (and widely reported mad skills) for basketball also cracked the list.
The final entries— 38) couldn’t tell him NOTHING 39) always escaped into thin air 40) left us way too early — are poignant reminders of Prince’s unique, bold, and ultimately too-brief presence in music.
