January 27, 2025
André 3000, D’Angelo, Chaka Khan, and extra converse on the “Black genius” that’s Sly Stone.
Questlove rounded up an A-list group of Black musical expertise to share their praises of the “Black genius” Sly Stone within the new documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius).
The brand new movie premiered on the 2025 Sundance Movie Competition on Thursday, adopted by the debut of the official trailer for Questlove’s Hulu documentary, Billboard experiences. The 2-minute trailer options music legends, together with André 3000, Chaka Khan, George Clinton, D’Angelo, and Q-Tip, amongst others, reflecting on Sly Stone’s groundbreaking function as a funk-soul pioneer.
The Roots drummer might be seen asking the Outkast rapper if he believes within the idea of “Black genius” earlier than fast flashes present highlights of pinnacle moments for Stone, who shot to fame in 1968 with the discharge of his band’s first hit, “Dance to the Music.” Energetic dance strikes, flamboyant costumes, outsized sun shades, and a towering afro set the stage for highlights of Stone’s profession, all underscored by his 1969 No. 1 hit, “On a regular basis Individuals,” enjoying within the background.
Images of the various making of Sly and the Household Stone assist transition the dialog round how “massively in style” the group was with their messaging of peace and unity and a string of Billboard Scorching 100 prime 10s, together with “Scorching Enjoyable within the Summertime,” “Dance to the Music,” and No. 1 smashes “Household Affair” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Once more).”
“Sly created this distinctive area,” Q-Tip says.
P-Funk icon Clinton goes on to notice how groundbreaking Sly and the Household Stone had been to have a “combined” line-up of women and men, white and Black, of their band.
“They gave the impression of nothing else,” producer Jimmy Jam says of the group’s uplifting mix of soul, pop, R&B, funk, and gospel on tracks like “I Need to Take You Greater” and “If You Need Me to Keep.”
These songs served as anthems throughout a time when the nation was deeply divided over the Vietnam Conflict. Archival footage within the documentary exhibits the heightened consideration Stone obtained through the Sixties and Seventies earlier than his drug use and erratic conduct successfully ended the group by 1975.
“on the time… it was nearly an excessive amount of all of sudden,” Stone says within the doc.
With all highs come some low lows, and the documentary trailer highlights how the movie will delve into the “nervousness, the strain, the drug use” that plagued Stone’s profession.
“For those who’ve been on this heightened, explosive life… your physique has taken in a lot power, and also you’ve given out a lot power, and also you cease… the place’s that power go?” André 3000 asks.
Different icons who lent their time to seem within the documentary embrace Nile Rodgers, P-Funk singer Ruth Copeland, music business icon Clive Davis, and Household Stone members Larry Graham Jr., Jerry Martini, and Greg Errico. Sly Lives will start streaming on Hulu on Feb. 13.
It’s Questlove’s second documentary following his Oscar-winning 2021 Summer season of Soul doc in regards to the 1969 Harlem Cultural Competition (aka “Black Woodstock”) which Sly and the Household Stone took half in. Subsequent up will likely be a documentary on Earth, Wind & Hearth, which he introduced final September.
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