The legendary Questlove spoke at Binghamton University in “A Conversation with Questlove,” part of the BU Distinguished Speaker Series.

Last Sunday, BU students, faculty and the local community filled the Osterhout Concert Theater for the hour-long event. Questlove spoke about his creative projects, unearthing of Black history and humorous life stories.

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, director, New York Times bestselling author and adjunct professor at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, among other titles. His hip-hop band, the Roots, began playing music for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2014. Questlove has created the iconic soundtrack of “Hamilton,” the Broadway hit that won best musical at the 70th Tony Awards. More recently, his 2021 documentary “Summer of Soul,” depicting the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, won the best documentary feature at the 94th Academy Awards.

The event opened with an introduction of its co-moderators — Dana Stewart, a collegiate professor of Mountainview College, and Derek Jorden, a resident director of Newing College. After Stewart and Jorden gave a warm welcome to Questlove, the audience erupted into applause as Questlove walked onto the stage.

Questlove began by recounting how he came to love music. Starting at five years old, he began to act as his father’s informal road manager, handling driving directions for his father’s doo-wop shows, ironing clothing and setting up stages. At 12, Questlove played his first show at Radio City Music Hall after his father’s drummer was involved in a motorcycle accident.

Stewart prompted Questlove to talk about Prince’s musical influence, to which Questlove praised Prince’s novel use of drum programming and synthesizers. However, Prince’s influence on Questlove wasn’t only limited to music. The audience burst into laughter when Questlove described Prince’s personal invitation to a roller skating party.

“I’m backstage at a concert, and in one dressing room it’s Prince’s former manager Alan Leeds, Chris Rock, Raphael Saadiq and Eddie Murphy,” Questlove said. “And so I go in the room, I’m like, ‘Hey, Prince just hit me up. He’s throwing a roller skating party.’”

The story concluded with a humorous description of Prince skating skillfully in light-up roller skates.

Questlove then told the story of how the Roots got to work with Jimmy Fallon. Although Questlove was initially reluctant to serve as Fallon’s in-house band, the decision was soon made for him.

“I go away for 20 minutes to do an interview, and I come back and Jimmy and the remaining 10 Roots are doing this bring-it-on-esque, like, human pyramid, taking a photo,” Questlove said. “And [that was] the moment I realized we were never getting rid of him.”

In addition to his musical accomplishments, Questlove has published six books. He discussed his obsession with creativity and how surrounding himself with other creatives fueled that passion. Questlove then teased his upcoming seventh book — his first work of fiction — and expressed his eagerness to experiment creatively.

“I’m going through every level of fear, starting with the movie, and there’s nine other things I’ve never done before,” Questlove said. “I just feel like I can’t — I would be a complete fraud if I’m telling people how to be creative, yet I’m still afraid of my own shadow.”

Building off his directing work, Stewart brought up “Summer of Soul,” Questlove’s documentary about the forgotten Harlem Cultural Festival. Despite teaching the course UNIV 101: Festivals, Fans & Jam Bands, Stewart was never aware of the festival.

“When ‘Summer of Soul’ came out last year, I was shocked to find out that there had been this major music festival in Harlem, with an incredible lineup of stars (Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & the Pips and so many more), and I had never even heard of it — even through all of my research of early music festivals,” Stewart wrote in an email.

Questlove elaborated on the experience of recovering lost history while making “The Summer of Soul.” Despite CBS News’ rules against releasing never-before-aired footage, Questlove convinced them to let him use footage of Black people’s reactions to the moon landing — a piece of lesser-known history.

While “Summer of Soul” unearthed a previously forgotten cultural festival, Questlove talked about how he received over 11 emails about other forgotten festivals.

“Even in completing that film, I was like, I know that’s not an anomaly,” Questlove said. “I know there has to be more unearthed gems somewhere in someone’s basement, just sitting there.”

Questlove discussed not only the importance of depicting Black struggles in the 1970s, but also the importance of highlighting Black joy.

“I realized that, in history, especially when you’re showing the plight of Black people, we’ve seen the bloodshed, we’ve seen the tears, we’ve seen the terror, we’ve seen the pain, but to see our happiness is also a very key component that often is overlooked,” Questlove said.

In spite of his accolades, Questlove continuously spoke about humbling moments, such as his fear of public speaking to children and his self-proclaimed desire to “hide in plain sight.”

Jorden expressed how Questlove’s humility struck him in particular.

“Meeting him was so profound because I was standing in front of the Grammy-winning entertainment legend and he was so humble,” Jorden wrote.

Chelsea Ingalls, 38, of Binghamton, spoke about her reaction to hearing Questlove’s stories.

“I liked listening to all of his stories he was telling,” Ingalls said. “The Prince story was hilarious, and just hearing his experiences with all the people that he’s interacted with.”

Stewart and Jorden concluded the event by asking Questlove about his future projects. He stated that he has seven upcoming movies, one of which is about his great-great-great grandfather, the last illegal captive brought to America on the Clotilda. The film “Descendant” will discuss his founding of Africatown in Mobile, Alabama with other West Africans.

With many upcoming projects in the works, Questlove’s creative pursuits are only expanding.

“I’m just starting to live life,” Questlove said. “And sort of own it, you know.”