What Now? With Trevor NoahPrince, Crack, and the Secret History of Hip-Hop
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- August 11, 2025
- Duration
- 58m
- Channel
- What Now? With Trevor Noah
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Re-Release For YouTube. This episode of What Now? with Trevor Noah originally aired on 07/11/2024. In this episode... DJ, drummer, author, and Roots frontman Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Trevor discuss “50 Years of Hip Hop” at the Grammys and his book Hip Hop is History. Questlove also divulges to Trevor the names of all 432 people who get his weekly playlist (no, he doesn’t) and reveals all the celebrities who come to his legendary game nights (he doesn’t reveal that either, but it’s still a fantastic conversation). If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the channel here http://bit.ly/SubscribeTrevorNoah Or follow the podcast on your other favorite platforms... Spotify - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnSpotify Apple Podcasts - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnApplePodcasts 00:00 – Cold open: “You’re a rule follower…” 00:30 – Welcome Questlove: Hip-hop, good times & DC 01:48 – The action-packed opening of Quest’s book 02:29 – Hip-Hop 50: The impossible 10-minute job 03:34 – “Be the bad cop”: Cutting legends & calling favorites 05:15 – “Who all gon’ be there?”—managing rap politics 06:45 – Show night panic: Bad Bunny starts, crisis begins 08:25 – Security chaos: VIPs, metal detectors, dealbreakers 09:31 – First dropout: Rebuilding a live show mid-show 11:10 – Album of the Year triggers a second dropout 12:21 – Four minutes to fix everything 13:07 – The broom-closet meditation 14:07 – Two texts: Jay-Z or Uzi? 15:04 – Dre’s masterclass in saying “No” (twice) 15:42 – Phone dies. Curtain rising. 16:11 – It lands. Jay-Z becomes the show 16:48 – Hip-hop & Questlove: twin timelines 17:26 – Hearing hip-hop at 8: “Rapper’s Delight” changes everything 18:58 – Recording the radio & performing at school 19:48 – Hip-hop by drugs: 5-year eras that shaped the sound 20:41 – From crack to weed to ecstasy to sizzurp to numb 22:30 – The Roots’ unsexy origin story: working-class truth 25:20 – Longevity secret: “Left foot, right foot—show up” 27:00 – Performance mindsets: sabotage vs. silence 29:08 – Backstage rituals: Zen, music, people 32:09 – Fame without the mask: just be the same person 33:24 – Anti-machismo lens: food as self-soothing 35:19 – Leading by example, not preaching 36:50 – Balance without extremes 38:25 – The stickler for detail: “sound like the record” 39:37 – Playlists for the Carters (and a side-eye at “summer playlists”) 41:48 – Five forever songs (ambient to Prince) #TrevorNoah #Questlove #WhatNowPodcast
SPEAKERS
Trevor Noah
hostComedian and TV host; host of the podcast “What Now? With Trevor Noah.”
Questlove
guestMusician, producer, and drummer for The Roots; author and hip-hop historian.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of What Now? With Trevor Noah, featuring Trevor Noah and Questlove, Prince, Crack, and the Secret History of Hip-Hop explores questlove on Grammys chaos, hip-hop eras, and creative survival rules Questlove recounts how condensing 50 years of hip-hop into a 10-minute Grammys segment required ruthless editing, ego-management, and being the “bad cop” who cuts legends from the list.
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