Pop has rarely been able to look away from Sly Stone for both the right and the wrong reasons. At his peak Stone was a supernova, burning bright and fast in the late 60s and early 70s with Sly and the Family Stone hits that shone with glorious optimism and musical virtuosity. Yet Stone’s personal troubles derailed his career as he battled drug addiction, leading to Family feuds, squandered opportunities and decades of obscurity.
Sly’s story and what it says about expectations placed on Black artists is the subject of Sly Lives! (AKA The Burden of Black Genius), a vibrant and probing new documentary from the director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and the producer Joseph Patel. The release follows Summer of Soul, the pair’s mesmerizing film about 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival, which won the best documentary Oscar in 2022. “Our premise is about Sly being the first post-civil rights Black star who has a white audience and a Black audience, and what that specific American burden is on Black artists,” says Patel.
