2 Weeks Ago, Questlove Was Stopped By NYC Police for No Reason

In light of the landmark decision ruling New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy unconstitutional, Questlove spoke to Democracy Now about his own experience with the policy, in Philly and in New York. The first time, he said, occurred in 1987 after he and a buddy drove to buy a copy of U2’s Joshua Tree, in anticipation of an upcoming show at JFK Stadium.

We were driving home and then seconds later on Washington Avenue in Philly, cops stopped us and he was holding a gun on us. And there’s nothing like the first time a gun is held on you. Like, we were 16, mind you.

That was the first time. The last time? Two or three weeks ago, driving back to Manhattan from his regular Thursday night DJ gig at the Brooklyn Bowl.

They walked up, asked to see license and registration. And it was like four of them with flashlights everywhere … They wanted to know, ‘Are you in a cab? Is this a cab? Where’s your New York taxi license?’ I have my own car, and I have my own driver.

They let him go five minutes later, after he showed them a copy of his new book. “I get stopped all the time,” he said, estimating 20 or 30 instances in the last two decades. [Democracy Now]