?uestlove sat down with NYU Local to discuss his new course with Clive Davis, Classic Albums. The in-depth conversation also finds him speaking on upcoming Roots collaborative projects with Elvis Costello, Al Green, and the long-awaited D’Angelo LP. Read on, party people:

Questlove: You know one of our big experiments on the Fallon show – our room is a studio. So, after Elvis Costello’s third appearance, we liked him so much we were like hey why don’t we make a record? Well what went from being one song to be released on Record Store Day became – why don’t we try four songs? Now we have a brilliant album. And, in the whole history of The Roots, I have never bragged on an album first, but I actually love this record.

NYU Local: Does it have a title?

Questlove: Yes, but he doesn’t want me to release it yet. More likely, it’s going to go to some subsidiary of Universal, like Def Jam or Blue Note.

NYU Local: It would be so cool if it’s on Blue Note.

Questlove: Yeah, I want it to go on Blue Note. Speak of which, we’re going to start the next Al Green record, um what else, I’m going to go back to my comedy roots and start working on Amy Schumer’s comedy special.

NYU Local: Really?

Questlove: Yeah I haven’t had a feeling in my stomach since I first saw the early Chappelle’s Show sketches and scripts.

NYU Local: I remember you being on it.

Questlove: That’s how I got Fallon – I worked all of season two and season three on the music.

NYU Local: It was awesome.

Questlove: Thanks. Schumer has the same team – Neal Brennan. It’s just as edgy. Again, I don’t want to put her in such a position because it’d just become a soundbite – ‘Questlove said Schumer’s going to match Chappelle’ – but for real, the last time I felt like ,“Oh shit are you allowed to do that?”, was back when they showed me the Chappelle dailies. She’s breaking every rule and hopefully people will be open to it. Also! My restaurant’s opening at Chelsea Markets. People have been wondering what’s happening with my food truck and I got rid of the truck and Chelsea Market offered me a position there so in March – it’s called Hi-Bird.

[Snip]

NYU Local: Any word on the D’Angelo album? I heard he may appear at a Brooklyn Bowl show.

Questlove: They announced that already?

NYU Local: It’s a rumor going around.

Questlove: Nice rumor! [Laughs] On that note, I have to go to class.

NYU Local: Any legitimacy to it?

Questlove: I don’t know…. It’s definitely not in February, but at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday nights I can do whatever I want. I’ve asked a lot of luminaries. I have someone – not D’Angelo – that I’m trying to pull a coup on to perform there. They’re of god status and they’re considering it.

NYU Local: Professor King just gave me a copy of the D’Angelo reissues and I’ve been playing it nonstop.

Questlove: Wait until you hear the new album.

Lay It Down, his third album on Blue Note Records debuted at #9 on the Billboard pop charts – the first time he’s broken the top 40 chart since 1975′s Greatest Hits LP. What’s so different this time around? Al has taken a back to basics approach with this album, aided by producers The Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and James Poysner. As fans of his early works, the duo understands what people want to hear in an Al Green record, and they successfully deliver.

He gets right down to business with the title track, “Lay It Down”, which sets up the record perfectly, as never-too-old-to-woo-the-ladies Green instantly captures the attention of his audience with this beautifully executed slow burner. Anthony Hamilton backs him up here – and again later on “You’ve Got The Love I Need”, another classically penned love ballad that captures the lost innocence of Green’s era perfectly.

Corinne Bailey Ray joins in on “Take Your Time”, a duet that finds the two sinking into the sheets, professing their (performed) love for one another, over ?uestlove’s slowest BPM ever. Obvious influence John Legend also collaborates with Green on “Stay with Me (By The Sea)”, another smooth-like-butter heartbreaker, finding the two Don Juan’s effortlessly finding the perfect words for their female counterparts. Who wants to put money on an ’09 Grammy duet for either track?

The collaborations are excellent, and add some star power to the record, but the true star here is Al himself. The majority of the album plays at a super relaxed pace, and Green is a natural at sliding back into his niche. ?uestlove and Poysner are perhaps the most important cog in the machine here. Rather than attempting to update Green by adding rap lyrics or modern hip-hop beats to his tracks, they instead see no reason to fix what isn’t broken. Instead, they provide classic backdrops in the tradition of his early records and successfully channel the sound of yesterday.

The only two out of place tracks here are “Standing In The Rain” and “I’m Wild About You”, a pair of of uptempo tracks that seem as if they would go over especially well at your grandparents’ wedding anniversary. It’s evident that Green was attempting to “get the party started” with these two tracks, so to speak, but both come off more dated than timeless. But at this point, he can do what he wants, so who are we to judge?

This is a record for the lovers, so despite these minor missteps, the first nine tracks of it play through flawlessly. 40 years into the game, Green gets the success he deserves once again. – Pizzo