Questlove is getting his own publishing imprint, with a memoir by Sly Stone as its first book, Farrar, Straus and Giroux announced in a news release.
The publisher will launch AUWA Books this fall under its MCD imprint. Questlove, the musician, filmmaker, author, and drummer for the hip-hop band The Roots, will serve as the imprint’s director.
“As an artist and enthusiast, a historian and curator, Questlove has spent decades both contributing to culture and exploring its rich and complex history,” FSG said. “AUWA Books seeks to connect the two.”
The imprint will publish both fiction and nonfiction, and “cover nearly every topic under the sun,” the publisher said. Its first book will be funk legend Stone’s Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), named after the hit 1969 single from his band Sly and the Family Stone, and scheduled for publication on Oct. 17.
The memoir is co-written with Ben Greenman, who will also collaborate with Questlove on a book called Hip-Hop Is History. That book will be published in 2024, along with an as-yet-untitled book from TikTok star Drew Afualo.
“I have been writing books for over a decade, so it seemed like a natural step to publish them too,” Questlove said in a statement. “I’m very excited about AUWA Books, from the books we have lined up to the books we haven’t discovered yet. Let’s take it to the page.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
