美国国家公共电台 NPR Questlove Aims To Save Your Brain: 'Creativity Might Be In Jeopardy'

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Our next guest is Ahmir Thompson, also known as Questlove. He's a drummer and a bunch of other things.

AHMIR THOMPSON: People know me as a founding member of The Roots. I DJ occasionally. I was a professor at NYU - oh, a television producer. I work for "Soul Train." I own what I feel is the original social media called okayplayer.com. Oh, and I produce music.

CORNISH: You also produce music.

THOMPSON: And the show's over.

CORNISH: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON")

THE ROOTS: (Singing) Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

CORNISH: Of course he's got that regular gig with "The Tonight Show," and he writes books. He just finished his fourth. It's called "Creative Quest." So this is a guy who knows a bit about creativity. And with this book, he digs into how to nurture¹ that process.

THOMPSON: Dare I hesitate to say that creativity might be in jeopardy² because one of the key components³ of being creative is boredom⁴ and silence and isolation⁵.

CORNISH: Right, and these are rare commodities today - right? - when you have the antidote⁶ to all of that in your pocket.

THOMPSON: I mean, even as I speak to you now, like, I have both my phones in my hands just in case something comes up.

CORNISH: Come on, man.

(LAUGHTER)

THOMPSON: No, I can chew and walk at the same time, so...

CORNISH: We're talking here (laughter). In the book, you talk about people from all walks of life that you talked to about creativity who are in different artistic⁷ mediums. Is there someone who you encountered where you thought, that creative process is really something special?

THOMPSON: Chris Rock - watching him prepare for his Netflix special. You know, if it's an artist like Beyonce, if it's Bruno Mars, if it's someone that's real big in music, they have the luxury of practicing behind closed doors. But for comedians⁸, the choices are far and few between. And a lot of them frequent the Comedy Cellar in the village. They're not doing their full-blown shtick. They have their notepads. They have their glasses - their reading glasses on. And they're - you know, they're looking. OK, what do you want me to talk about? Politics - everyone does that. Let's talk about asparagus, OK?

And he turns the page, and then he just rattles⁹ off some jokes. And, you know, if it's a spark there, he'll riff on it. If not - oh, y'all didn't like that - wow, damn. I see him working in real time. And then when it's over, they all go upstairs, and then they critique each other. And then I'll watch him work through the process over and over and over again. And then you literally¹⁰ watch it morph into gut-busting laughter, like, a year later.

CORNISH: Hearing you talk about Chris Rock leads me to another point in the book how working on "The Late Show" and "The Tonight Show" affected¹¹ how you and the group think about collaboration¹² and creativity as you are sort of supporting acts that come on these shows. At a certain point, you're just sitting in a room looking at each other, and some suit somewhere has said, OK, guys, create. To you, what's the first step in making that work?

THOMPSON: Always throwing the suit out the door.

CORNISH: (Laughter).

THOMPSON: I never start the work immediately. I'll set aside some time where we could just listen to records. Usually I get a feel of what they like from there. It's a slow process to start jamming.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MILEY CYRUS: (Singing) We run things. Things don't run we. We don't take nothing from nobody, yeah, yeah.

THE ROOTS: (Singing) It's our party. We can do what we want.

CORNISH: It kind of reminds me of when a person is in their teens or college age and they are building intimacy¹³ with another person, right? Like, you establish a friendship on fast forward.

THOMPSON: It's the hardest thing in the world. When we started "The Tonight Show," maybe The Roots rehearsed 10 to 15 times in our entire duration to that point. The nature of the group was so spontaneous and so jam-based that we didn't want to ruin it. Once we got to "The Tonight Show" and the eight of us are in this really small room, the small quarters facing each other, it was one of the hardest things ever to make music. But it's probably the best thing that ever happened to us, and we're better musicians and creators now than we've ever been, like, to the point where I discount the first 17 years of our career. I'm like, I cheated you guys. Like, I'm so much better now as a musician.

CORNISH: What's your advice to someone who wants to work on kind of building their creative life, especially later in life?

THOMPSON: That is so hard. This is why a lot of creatives that we love - usually they get started at the age of 5.

CORNISH: Let's say you're starting a little later than 5 (laughter).

THOMPSON: Well, I mean, there's some people - OK, how late? Like, I don't want to be that person being like, you know, give up on your dreams; you know it's not going to happen. But you have to be ready for the relentless¹⁴ uphill climb. Imagine being in the gym and being on the treadmill¹⁵. Like, think of the hardest level with the incline on "Smooth Criminal" level. Like, it's like that.

CORNISH: (Laughter) Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal"?

THOMPSON: Yeah, the Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" lean. Like, that - you're going to have to be...

CORNISH: (Laughter) That is your treadmill song.

THOMPSON: Yeah. That's the struggle you're going to have to go through. Now, if you're willing to go through that and bleed for it, then, yeah, more power to you. Keep doing it.

CORNISH: Ahmir Questlove Thompson - he's the author of "Creative Quest." Thank you for speaking with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

THOMPSON: I appreciate being here. Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMOOTH CRIMINAL")

MICHAEL JACKSON: (Singing) Annie, are you OK? Will you tell us that you're OK? There's a sound at the window. Then he struck you - a crescendo¹⁶, Annie. He came into your apartment, left the bloodstains on the carpet.

1 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

2 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

3 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

4 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

5 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

6 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

7 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

8 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

9 rattles   

（使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧

参考例句：

• It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get under the bed. 它把窗玻璃震得格格作响，把狗吓得往床底下钻。
• How thin it is, and how dainty and frail; and how it rattles. 你看它够多么薄，多么精致，多么不结实；还老那么哗楞哗楞地响。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

13 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

14 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

15 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

16 crescendo   

n.(音乐)渐强，高潮

参考例句：

• The gale reached its crescendo in the evening.狂风在晚上达到高潮。
• There was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticism.来自议会和新闻界的批评越来越多。