Our new favorite blogger: ?uestlove

This is a little old, but we have a feeling many of you haven't seen it yet. From what we have read and seen (front row last month at Yunfeng Theater) of ?uestlove, drummer for The Roots, we always thought the man also known as Ahmir-Khalib Thompson would be a pretty cool guy to hang out with. And then someone told us to check out his blog on MySpace and now our new goal in life is get invited to one of ?uestlove's cookouts should we ever leave Shanghai and move back to rockin' Conshohocken. His blog is an entertaining and honest glimpse into the life of a celebrity, although it seems as though he's not really sure if he feels like a celebrity yet.

The reason ?uestlove's blog was forwarded our way was this post, both funny and infuriating, about his post-Asia-tour run-in with airport security — and then the feds — at the Buffalo airport, an ordeal he describes as "possibly the most humiliating hour of my life."

So here's the deal: ?uestlove was traveling with lots and lots of cash, in many currencies, including "100,000 in China money." While his Roots payments get deposited into his bank account, he often gets paid for DJ gigs in cash. In days gone by, he would have already spent most of it on the three main passions in his life: sneakers, records and gadgets. But ...

i no longer have to pay for sneakers that much, and i think that 60,000 records are enough records to have in this lifetime. i get VIP status with apple so if the timing is right and i don't abuse my status---i pretty much dont have to come outta pocket for the gadgets. ... this is how real wealthy people stay wealthy: someone else pays the bill!

So there he was: wads of cash, black skin and an afro. And Buffalo's finest assumed he was a drug dealer. ?uest told them about his Grammy awards and that he once sold out Carnegie Hall. But they weren't having it — he couldn't (or wouldn't) sing any of his hit songs and his photo didn't appear in any of the hip hop magazines he was carrying with him. Drug dealer, for sure. They made him drop his pants. Dicks. "This was singlehandedly the most embarrassing moment of my career," he wrote.

His account is definitely worth reading. You'll learn:

?uestlove likes hosting cookouts, shops at Home Depot, is not sure if he is a "real celeb," watches The Office, The Sopranos, 30 Rock and Entourage, travels with two computers and two external hard drives, likes Louis Vuitton bags (and is comfortable with his sexuality), wears a "knitted rasta farian hat" to hide his afro so he gets recognized less often at airports, enjoys muffins and coffee at Starbucks, wears Old Navy jeans, flies coach, owns Ladies of the Canyon by Joni Mitchell, likes to read books filled with "connundrums and riddles," listens to Radiohead's Kid A when he is feeling down, had two afro picks confiscated on their recent tour, suffers from mild lymphodema, and will likely start having his DJ gig payments deposited direct to his bank account from now on.

There's another post about their recent swing through Asia that is worth checking out:

for starters i copped too too too too much stuff. member that dvd japan blog? eff that....now i know how kanye is the undisputed LV don. a couple of trips to china and soon i can claim the same title (and let's keep it real...china is THEE spot to get your hustle on for anything you ever wanted in this life. all the factories are here. your "host" (usually the promoter) got a backdoor hookup (lets just say that some of the merchandise from factories just so happens to find their way in someone's trunk and into your presence...you barter the price and shit is sweet)

only problem is that they only allow you to cop 5g's worth of shit. they won't even let you come in here if you got more than 10gs on you. (let's just say that i was on my most Johnny Depp in Blow with all my saved dj gig loot since the Game Theory tour started in early Feb. taping G's to half the crew like i was living out the lyrics to Jigga's Reasonable Doubt) i almost caught a bad one in Shanghai when my belt set of the alarm in the airport security check and the first thing the guard went for was my...um bulge. i had some coins and an ipod nano so i took them out and held my tummy in hoping he would let this one go (he did thank god)

so even as i type this now i am riding dirty. i got mad mad shit and gifts and i have yet to deposit this paper route mattress money to a philly bank (ill touch down for the first time in eons on tuesday)

Check out ?uestlove at MySpace here.