Before I was laid off, I wrote about Questlove's Sly Stone doc. It ponders the pressures of representation that might have eluded Stone. Chaka Khan, Andre 3000 and D'Angelo testimonies more pointedly illuminate the paradox of success and how it can impede Black art. www.huffpost.com/entry/sly-st... - ThreadSky

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candicefrederick.bsky.social • 18 days ago

Before I was laid off, I wrote about Questlove's Sly Stone doc. It ponders the pressures of representation that might have eluded Stone. Chaka Khan, Andre 3000 and D'Angelo testimonies more pointedly illuminate the paradox of success and how it can impede Black art. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sly-stone-questlove-documentary-black-fame_n_67a2504de4b042f60737ba60

Comments

jlamonty.bsky.social•18 days ago

Great article! Heard Questlove’s interview on NPR today, and it struck me what he said about Sly’s last album There’s a Riot- yes it’s critically acclaimed and massively important, but it also contains the pain of Sly trying to publicly “prove” his Blackness. Excited for the doc

candicefrederick.bsky.social•18 days ago

thanks for reading!

candicefrederick.bsky.social•18 days ago

Something that strikes me about early discourse about this film after the trailer dropped is that folks were annoyed that an image of Will Smith is used in a montage. That kind of reaction is likely one reason why it was necessary to include him in this discussion. I also wrote about that here.

scottdagostino.ca•18 days ago

The Will Smith saga fascinates me. Like most, I saw the slap live and knew enough about him and Chris Rock to know it was a long time coming. I agreed that Smith’s violence was wrong but quickly, that wasn’t enough for America. No, Smith needed to be ERASED for this. It’s creepy and very revealing.

candicefrederick.bsky.social•18 days ago

I hear you. I have some complicated feelings about the whole thing and the unfortunate ways in which it was discussed on all ends.