Questlove to Teach at NYU

Questlove, the drummer for the Roots, will be teaching a course on classic albums next spring at New York University, Billboard reported. Questlove, whose real name is Ahmir Thompson, will lecture on what makes an album stand the test of time, looking closely at the music, lyrics, production and marketing of some of the biggest-selling albums. 

Jason King, an associate professor of recorded music, said the faculty at the Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music was excited to have Mr. Thompson come aboard, since he already enjoys a reputation in New York music circles as an unofficial scholar of pop. “We wanted to bring him in because we felt he should really be a  professor,” Mr. King told Billboard. “In a lot of ways he already is an informal, unofficial professor not just in hip-hop but in music in general.”

Mr. Thompson will share teaching duties for the two-credit course with Harry Weinger, a vice president for Artist & Repertoire with Universal Music Enterprises. The course will focus on albums like Sly and the Family Stone's “Stand!”; Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album; Michael Jackson's “Off the Wall”; and the Beastie Boys' “Paul's Boutique.”