Questlove Tells His Patti LaBelle Soul Food Story In An OKP TV Original Animation
Gather 'round, children. We (Questlove and Okayplayer) wanted to get you all something nice for the holidays. ALL the holidays. So...we went into the kitchen and cooked you up something real nice. No, not that. Let us explain. Besides being Okayplayer's founder, Questo is a wearer of many hats and holder (as is noted right in his twitter bio) of 15+ jobs at any given time. Among his many talents--virtuoso drummer, bandleader, producer, DJ, music director, chef, professor--perhaps the most underrated is his storytelling ability. Not around here, though. Questo's music industry anecdotes--whether related in person, shared in marathon posts on the The Lesson message board, sometimes told directly into a camera and uploaded to YouTube ("you look phenomenal, B"), or typed into Facebook posts--are the stuff of Okayplayer legend. Not a few have made their way into print, either as chapters in his memoir Mo' Meta Blues or picked up as features by various magazines. But those represent only the tip of the anecdote iceberg that is Questo, a sea of stories about Prince, Puffy, Heavy D, Maya Rudolph, Dave Chappelle, Jazzy Jeff, LL Cool J, Amel Larrieux, Eddie Murphy, D'Angelo, Salma Hayek and [insert your personal favorite movie/music/comedy icon here]. And those are just the classics, not even counting the new stories that've been piling up everyday as Questo has become the go-to guy for musical TV and the backstage area at Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show has established itself as the crossroads of the industry.
So when we were deciding what to get you kids for the holidays, we honestly couldn't think of a better present than a good, old-fashioned Questlove story. Something from the vaults, that hasn't been shared outside the family. So we got him to put on yet another hat--his Santa hat--and gift you with one of our own all-time favorites, a holiday-appropriate, foodie-friendly tale of the years-long, uh, quest to taste Patti LaBelle's legendary chicken and sweet potatoes (you didn't think she called herself Sweet 'Ol Lady Marmalade without knowing how to cook the hell out of some candied yams, did you?). THEN we recruited our boy, the brilliant illustrator and animator, Hectah to bring it to life, Charlie-Brown-meets-Charlie-Murphy style. We won't give away all the plot twists but let's just say you may be surprised to know that twenty-some years after he began his musical career busking on South Street, Questlove, the consummate industry insider, might just--under verrrry specific circumstances--work for food. Oh ,just watch below and you'll understand....hope you like it! (And if you do, we've got some more of these in the back...). Happy Holidays from Okayplayer!
