Maybe our parents, and grandparents and great-grandparents had it right all this time.
That’s what I found myself thinking toward the end of Summer of Soul (… or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), an award-winning documentary landing on Hulu July 2. Directed by Root frontman Questlove, the doc chronicles 1969’s other seminal music festival—one you’ve probably never heard of: the Harlem Cultural Festival.
And as I watched, I thought about how each generation has embraced a form of music that terrified the previous one: Elvis; the Beatles; Black Sabbath; NWA; Nirvana; Eminem; Cardi B. They were worried that the music would change their sons and daughters—lead them in new directions, introduce them to new ideas, lure them into dangerous new pastimes.
Summer...