The Questlove Show - Questlove’s Valentine’s Day Music Picks — The Love Edition

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

In preparation for Valentine’s Day, Questlove digs into his collection to curate ten song suggesions that set the mood for love. From timeless classics by Minnie Riperton and Donny Hathaway to deeper cuts and modern selections from Cody Chesnutt and Meshell Ndegeocello, he shares the records that define romance in all its forms. If you’re in a season of love, consider this your soundtrack. And stay tuned for a second edition—songs for those on the other end of the spectrum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed human. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar.

This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd

was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Ellen, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian. Michael Mancini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women. discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.

They take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Questlove show is a production of IHeart, Heart. radio. All right, people, you know, I can't have this moniker, this name, Questlove, and not display my mastery of what it is that I really, really do. And, you know, I know I'm all things to all people, but at the end of the day, I'm a curator, I'm a pruner, I'm a farmer of music at heart. meaning having grown up in a household with 3,000 records, currently owning 200,000 records, I will say that I believe that I know a thing or two around the kitchen, if you will, when it comes to curating music. And of course, there are various times out the year where a lot of my friends will tap me to make them a mixtape-write-quick.

quick. Thanksgiving, I'm always asked to put together a two to four-hour Thanksgiving mix, which is harder than you think because you want something that fills the room with music, but you don't want it too wordy so often for like dinner requests, I do instrumental jazz, but like vibrant because, you know, if you play something too mellow, then that'll bring the mood down. Of course, I'll get the birth. they request or, you know, the office party request or some of my chef friends will have a opening and need a five-hour playlist. And, you know, I do, I do playlists like most people do the New York Times puzzles. Like, I just, I got to challenge myself to discover new songs. But

I will say that February 14th of every year of my life is probably the busiest. Now, back when I was that do you want more El Adelph Half-Life Days, yeah, I would make customized mixtapes, meaning individual cassettes specifically for that person and make a pretty penny doing it. Nowadays, I just, I want to share the love and share the joy. So Valentine's Days represents two types of playlists for me. Playlists of people in love and playlists for people who are depressed

because they lost love. And the thing is with slow jams, I find that when I do these two playlists, oftentimes the depressing playlist is the most popular one. Matter of fact, my most high profile client couple, the female half of this has gotten word back to me that the breakup heartbreak one is her favorite. because that has the most jams on it. So, you know, toxic love and us just mixing it up, that's nothing new.

Spoiler alert when I do the Earthwood and Fire podcast, Philip Bailey, in a very humorous way, breaks down the song, Reasons, because a lot of us is like, oh, that's my song, that's my song. And Reasons is about an affair. Like, Earth Wind and Fire famously turned down $2 million to play Reasons at a wedding. only because Villa Bailey had to tell the bride and groom like, dude, you do not want your wedding to be ruined by a song about

a couple cheating on each other. I know that we tend to make toxic songs about affairs like Whitney Houston, saving all my love for you or a sweet thing by Rufus and Shaka Khan or even reasons by Earth, Wind and Fire.

Those are our jams. but I decided to make two playlists, like one that's sort of affirmational love, real true love, and the other is the toxic breakup love, the sad love, the songs that you want to cry to because we like being melodramatic. So usually when I make a playlist, I start with either an interlude or in this case a poem. One of my proudest moments is helping, uh, singer Cody Chestnut get to the limelight

for that brief period in 2002 when he did the seed 2.0 with the roots, but he had a brilliant, brilliant kind of do-it-yourself record called the Headful Masterpiece. And he opens that record

with a poem by poet, artist, Sonia Marie. And it's called With Me and Mind. And I don't know, man. With Me and Mind is almost like as many times as an artist tries to emulate the sexiness that Prince represented back in his early 80s heyday. Look up with me and mine by Cody Chestnut and Sonia Marie. And Chestnut, by the way, is with two T's C-H-E-S-N-U-T-T-T. All right. Cody

Chestnut and Sonia Marie with me and mine. Another song that I love, is, you know, I'm always in Michelle and Deghiotilla's ear. One of her most brilliant projects she's ever done is the Grammy-nominated album, Van Trialquism, which I know was nominated for a Grammy. I don't know if it won. I know she recently won a Grammy, but I think this one was just nominated.

And what it is is it's like an interpretation of songs that we've known in love, and she puts her a little twist on it. And I told her, I was like, yo, you need to do part two of antriloquism. And I think it's only right that you take your song back. And for people that don't know what I mean, if you are a lover of Brian McKnight's song anytime, do I ever show my eye anytime? You know, that song is essentially just outside your door by Michelle and Diggiochello.

And it incenses me that people don't know it's the original. And for me, I'm like, yo, Michelle, when you do ventriloquism part two, your collection of cover songs, you should redo anytime by Brian McKnight as outside your door to let him know. Yeah, I see what you did. Like, you know, I love when an artist takes the high road. Artists being litigious to each other is not my favorite thing, but, you know, sometimes you got to call out a bite. I don't care how classic the song is. So, Outsides a door by Michelle and Degiochello.

And I also appreciate the fact that she did not rhyme the words waiting, anticipating, which every R&V artist does. Anyway, next up, think of Al Green. many classics, Simply Beautiful is probably his most loved, quiet, intimate song. That's him playing guitar on it. I didn't know he's playing acoustic guitar. Who knew? But Simply Beautiful by Al Green expresses love and intimacy and quietness.

And it's feeling. Like, if you really want to know what a soul ballot should sound like and feel like, it shows sensitivity. It shows kind of a... There's just some really human about that song. So simply beautiful by Al Green be my third song. My fourth song is sensuality by the Isley Brothers. You know, Isley Brothers are notorious for putting some of the best slow jams on side, two of their records.

I remember one person asked me once, like, well, how did they make slow jams in the 70s if like cassette tapes weren't prominent. Good question. If you were the household that had half inch reels, like if you were what they call a gearhead, meaning if you had a high-end, high-fi stereo with tubes, vacuum tubing, like really good, like the good system for 1973 or 74 or 76

or whatever year in the 70s, nine times out of 10, you also have to purchase a half inch reel, which is basically an adult cassette. They invented a cassette to get rid of the reel. So, I mean, the tape is the same, but you would have to take this giant reel and hook it up. And it would allow you to have anywhere between a half hour to an hour's worth of music on these tapes. and if your parents were the house party type, you know, this was their version of the playlist of streaming.

So, you know, nowadays people hit me up, yo, just stream some music so I can play it for an hour and then you hook it up to your Bluetooth speakers. While back in the 70s, yeah, I had to watch my dad like take tape and reel-to-reel tape and play his favorite song and wait for the ending. And in order for us to have an hour worth of music enjoyment, dad would almost have to do this like three to four hour process. So, yeah, sensuality by the Aussie brothers is one of those songs that were always a mainstay on my dad's tapes. Fun fact for you, Soul Quarian fans, when James Poyser and I worked on Belau's Queen of Sanity,

we literally, I remember putting sensuality on, we went to my record room in Philly, played it twice, and did the same thing. James used the moogs that Chris Jasper would use. And a lot of times when I'm playing drums in a 70-soule reference, I will morph or shape-shift into Ernie Isley,

primarily known for guitar playing, but Ernie Isley also played drums. on most of the Isley Brothers songs in their 70s heydays. So all those roles, like, and fight the power, you know, those roles, that's an Ernie Isley role. But in sensuality, his TomTom work, he would have no high hats in it, and he would just hit these Tomtoms like they were like boulders rolling down the hill. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

And it's quiet. I emulated that for Queen of Sanity for Bilau. So shout out to drummer, Ernie Isley. Number five is a group from the 70s called Brainstorm. Some of you may not be familiar with them. I know that at one point, they were based out of Detroit, Michigan. That much I do know. I know that they were on taboo records.

Shout out to Clarence Avon. I think they were one of his first clients, singer Bella Woods, her vocal on it. Also, there's a male singer. I don't know if it's Professor R.J. Ross or if it's Lamont Johnson, I'm not certain. But also, if you're a fan of George Michael's work with Wham, Dion Estes, he had a song called Heaven Help Me, like in 88, but he first started out playing with Brainstorm. And they had what we would call a quiet storm staple of a song. And that song was called This Must Be Heaven.

And so pretty much just in the late 70s, that song was a mainstay on Quiet Storm Black Radio and inescapable. And it still works to this day. Like most people gravitates towards the floaters float on, you know, because they like the whole introduction of the band. And the zodiac signs, but no, this must be heaven is to me quintessential 70s, uh, kind of just atmospheric, beautiful soul ballots that are unsung. Number six, I will say, is by one of my favorite singers,

mini Julia Ripperton, aka Maya Rudolph's mama. Of course, Minnie Ruperton had a cult classic of a group called The Rotary Connection on chess records produced by Charles Stepany, who of course will also get behind the boards for Earthwinter Fire. And, you know, Stevie Wonder was such a fan that I believe Maya Rudolph told us on the very first Questlove Supreme that his way of introducing himself to Minnie Rupertton was stopping by Roscoe's chicken and waffles to get a bucket of chicken and no pun intended blind knocking on her door hi i'm stevie wonder and instead of a bouquet of flowers he gave her a bucket of fried chicken it's like i love your voice and anyhow he wanted to produce mini ripperton and motown blocked this order I don't know how that happened, but yes, Motown blocked him producing Minnie Ripperton, but he did it anyway. So I believe that the album, which is called Perfect Angel, is produced by a figure called El Toro Negro, which means the Black Bull, which means someone born May 13th, which means that they are a Taurus, which means that was.

Steve Lamb Morris doing the production duty. So loving you, one of the greatest songs that I believe Stevie Wonder has ever written for someone besides himself. By the way, for you hardcore fans out there, look up the reissue of the Perfect Angel album. And there's an alternate version of Loving You in which Stevie has like a full-fledged rhythm section on there. Of course, the version we all know in love is just stripped down to just roads and synth and birds, which makes it more intimate and sexy. And then there's the version where it's kind of like a slow Latin groove, but it's very, very interesting. So the deal is Isaac Hayes, who probably be two things that he did to push the needle or the envelope for it as far as music creativity in the 70s. is number one, adding orchestration to his work.

Of course, then Barry White will follow suit. And then my guys gamble and huff of Philadelphia would take it even further by having lush orchestrations in their work. But really, I mean, I will say that Isaac Hayes is really the true pioneer of giving a lot of space. and the agency to his orchestral arrangements on top of these like soulful rhythmic sections. And I will say that probably of these songs, oh, I'm sorry, the second aspect besides orchestration is his ability to stretch a song. Once the album format was the epicenter of how music was delivered. Before

1967, it was about 45s. And then when Sergeant Peppers came out by the Beatles and suddenly that made the album important. Like suddenly there's things like liner notes and gate folds. And, you know, an album could be a piece of art, not just

a disc with your three hits and a bunch of cover songs. Like it would be conceptual and all those things. So by the time, Isaac Hayes made the Black Mooses album, He was turning, like, his slow jams, typical time would be somewhere between 12 to 19 minutes, almost an entire side of an album, which, you know, long slow jams.

Oh, Jesus Christ. So he would have a motif on all these albums called Ike's Rap. And this sort of starts the blueprint. This is the blueprint of which, you know, when you hear those like slow jams and someone has to talk, Hey, baby. Barry White does it well. Like Barry White and Isaac Hayes were like neck and neck as far as their execution, these new untested ideas. But in terms of timing, Isaac Hayes was the first.

And the reason why they're called Ike's rap is like he'll usually the first three to four minutes, sometimes five minutes. he'll just start off with a monologue where it's like a one-way conversation where he's talking to his woman on the phone or he's just on the couch like you hear him preparing the wine you hear the champagne popping and you hear him serving a glass

and like it feels like you're actually like it's like a reality show like you're inside of his living room as he's talking to his lady and for me one of his best Ike's rap I believe there's like six altogether, but my favorite Ike's rap was part three, which is called Your Love is So Doggone Good. It's a nine-minute, just master's stroke of Quiet Storm genius.

So Ike's Rap Three, Your Love is so doggone good, is my seventh choice. My eighth choice is a band that was produced by the grandfather. of my long-time tour manager. Tina Ferris has been tour manager of the roots for 25 years. We've known her for 30 back when she was a student. She was just a student at UCLA, and we were just a band playing at UCLA. And we met her after the show, became friends with her. And then five years later, she came to see us perform in Paris,

and she knew I'd speak a little French. And, you know, she would get around. And next thing I know, we were asking her to be our tour manager. And she's kind of the go-to person. But her grandfather is the legendary Harvey Fukuwa, who of course started off in the legendary doo-wop group called Harvey in the Moonglows. He most famously took the Tito, the Tito Jackson of the Moonglows, a young man named Marvin Pence Gay to Motown.

And the rest is history. Harvey also co-produced. He was like a father figure to Marvin, so he also helped work on the What's Going On album, also helped write sexual healing. But Harvey also produced this band called The New Birth, to whom they were also doubled as a band called The Nightlighters. There are so many unsung classics that this band has. And again, from Detroit, Michigan, one of their best songs is,

it's been a long time. If you're a fan of Dr. Dre's work with the world-class record crew, the first time we heard Dr. Dre's work, at least on a national level, a song called Turn Off the Lights where he gets Michelle A to sing the hook. But the music backdrop

is been a long time. And, yeah, basically, that song is an absolute, absolute absolute must have singer leslie wilson sings that song like his life depends on it one of the main regrets i have in life is uh leslie just passed away shortly before uh christmas of last year i think he died in october but um he sings that song like it's just if you just want to experience like what some of the best ad-lib singing ever in six minutes of a slow song. It's been a long time.

That's my number eight choice for Newbirth. For number nine, I say it's love won't let me wait by Major Harris. I remember when the song would come on. Major Harris, of course, was a key figure in Philadelphia. He started off as a member of the legendary Delphonics. and when the band went their separate ways Major Harris signed

to Atlantic Records and released the all-time classic Love Won't Let Me Wait Many know Luther Vandroses cover the song, but for me, the two staples of this song that I feel

that are forever lasting in proper slow jam, quiet storm songs. first of all, it's kind of the the silky tenor saxophone. That always sounds like

it's someone at a real swanky French upscale dinner where you had to wear a tuxedo and you ordered the best wine and you know, like if you listen to the intro that song

like it has that this is an adult affair kind of feeling to it. And second and most importantly, is one of the first songs that I believe kind of captured the sound of a woman having somewhere between a passionate expression and an orgasm, if you will. So I remember when the song would come on the radio, my parents would always like just lower the volume when, yeah, they would turn that down.

But love won't let me wait is a song that any true collection of quiet storm music cannot do without. And my last choice for my love songs, for love's sake, is, of course, whenever you hear artists talk about who their favorite,

singer is any soul singer worth their weight and goal will say that Donnie Hathaway is their favorite. However, there's a cover, which I believe started with blood, sweat and tears. There's a cover of, I Love You More Than You Ever Know That he does, that's live at the bitter end. Like, I know that this song is on his extensions of a man album, but when he did his his live record, live of the bitter end. This was not included on the original Donnie Hathaway live. However, since his passing,

they've released the outtakes of this. There's several Donnie Hathaway live performances and not to mention, I believe for that live album, they recorded three live shows. So I think

there might be two more live captures of him in concert. of which they do a devastating, devastating cover of I love you more than you'll ever know. So those are my heart-filled of love, capturing of the perfect curated love songs for your Valentine's needs, all right? So come back and I will have the antidote of that, which is the heartbreak version. All right.

Thank you. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax.

You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to. to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian, Michael Mancini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young.

This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, They take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.