Aretha Franklin

We saw him conquer with the resurrection of soul legend Al Green on Lay It Down, and now we think Questlove can take on one of music’s most powerful voices in Aretha Franklin. With the help of James Poyser, Questlove introduced Green’s classic sound to younger audiences, all the while keeping that retro vibe intact. With an already enormous following to her name, we think Franklin could benefit greatly from the Roots’ creative direction. Just imagine Questlove deep in the groove, complete with a string section and backup singers, making way for Franklin to show all these retro songstresses how it’s done.

Common

Besides Universal Mind Control, it is fair to say Common has never really “dropped the ball.” But perhaps Common’s most organic times of creativity came during his collaborations with the Soulquarians. The two major forces behind the career opus Like Water For Chocolate were the late J Dilla and Questlove of the Roots. Although it is a highly argued topic, that album is quite possibly Common’s strongest work to date. And we can’t say we expect the Chicago rapper turned actor to repeat that caliber of a record any time soon, but Questlove and the Roots are the one link he has back to those magical days.

And obviously No I.D. and Kanye West have been able to pull a good deal of inspiration out of Common. We can’t stress that enough. But every time he knocks out a Finding Forever or The Dreamer/The Believer, we can’t help but wish he’d progress his sound into different directions.