The Academy Award-winning Summer of Soul was jam-packed with awesome performances from Stevie Wonder to Nina Simone. But one performance in the documentary about 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival was singularly captivating: that of multiracial band Sly and the Family Stone in all its glorious, psychedelic soul-funk splendor.
Now, as we celebrate Black History Month, a deeper look into the life and legacy of musical mastermind Sylvester “Sly” Stone arrives on Feb. 13 with Hulu’s premiere of Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius). Ahead of that, Billboard is exclusively presenting a clip from the highly anticipated documentary. It features André 3000 (of Outkast, a 2025 Rock & Roll of Fame nominee ) reflecting on the influence that the band’s 1971 album cover for There’s a Riot Goin’ On had on Outkast’s 2000 album Stankonia. Notes André 3000 in part: “We’re in America, but then we’re in a Black America too. We’re in two different realities.” Watch the exclusive clip above.
Sly Lives! is directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who made his documentary directorial debut with 2021’s Summer of Soul. In exploring the charismatic singer-songwriter-musician who penned a groundbreaking chapter in music history with classics such as “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music” and “Family Affair,” Questlove said in a statement that his foray into the world of Sly began with several questions. “I wanted to investigate and interrogate the idea of Black genius. How is it different from the idea of genius in general? What is the effect of being saddled with that label? How much promise is built into it, how much fear and how much unreasonable expectation?” he shared. “Sly wanted to take you higher — I hope that this film also takes you deeper.”
Produced by Joseph Patel and Derik Murray, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) isn’t just about examining the frontman’s rise, success and fall. For Questlove, he also wants the documentary to foster “a conversation about Black artists and success, why so many of them feel a kind of survivor’s guilt and how the world that claims to support them can also undermine them. There is pressure on Black artists from all directions, and it can be crushing.”
