SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)

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SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)

2025

1h 52m

Documentary

Music

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Popcornmeter

91%

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32 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

"SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)" examines the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone, the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic and enigmatic Sly Stone. The film captures the band's rise, reign and subsequent fadeout while shedding light on the unseen burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.

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Jamie Ludwig

Chicago Reader

It goes harder than a typical biography.

Feb 20, 2025

Full Review

Candice Frederick

HuffPost

While the various artists help assemble a humanistic picture of the great yet tragically flawed musician, they also bring to mind their own struggles to fit inside that impossible space: entertaining but socially conscious, Black but not too Black.

Feb 13, 2025

Full Review

Wesley Morris

New York Times

The movie gets lost in the gulf between standard, if illuminating, biography and roiling existential crisis.

Feb 13, 2025

Full Review

Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

It’s a soaring, sometimes-painful journey, but in the end, the music speaks for itself

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 21, 2025

Full Review

Chuck Bowen

Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

Questlove knows how to talk to us normies who love music but who have no idea how it works, and the value he takes in information lifts “Sly Lives!” far above most rock docs.

Feb 18, 2025

Full Review

Rodrigo Perez

The Playlist

The culture moves on fast and the standards to which black artists are held are always way more ruthless and higher. I’m just not entirely convinced it lands this thesis as well as it hopes it does.

Rated: B

Feb 14, 2025

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Morris N

First of all hip hop owes a lot to this man. Sampled up the wazoo. He is an absolute genius. As a 7 year old I remember my uncle playing Riot all day. This is must see. Shoutout to Quest

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/25

Full Review

K W

My only weapon is my pen, I'm a songwriter - Sly Stone

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/25

Full Review

Garry A

I recognized a couple of their songs but knew very little if the band's history and cultural impact. It felt like this documentary left no stone unturned!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/25

Full Review

Samuel H

Good for what is was, could have been much longer, similar to the book didn’t tell us enough about the man himself and his lived experiences. Certainly a genius. Would be 4 or 5 star if Sly was involved, maybe unable to be so because of illness.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/25

Full Review

joanie j

I loved every minute of this film. I grew up on Sly and the Family Stone, but when they fell off the radar in the mid 70's I never really knew what happened. This film shows the meteoric rise of an artistic genius whose music resonated with people of all kinds. Not an easy thing to do today and near impossible back then. The tragedy of Sly's self-destruction is difficult to see but overall this movie shows us all his gifts and his human flaws and perhaps gives us better understanding of the man behind the music. Another A++ film by Questlove.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/15/25

Full Review

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Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Director

André Benjamin

Self

D'Angelo

Self

Chaka Khan

Self

Q-Tip

Self

Nile Rodgers

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SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius): Teaser

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Synopsis

"SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)" examines the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone, the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic and enigmatic Sly Stone. The film captures the band's rise, reign and subsequent fadeout while shedding light on the unseen burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.

Director: Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson
Producer: Joseph Patel, Derik Murray
Distributor: Hulu
Production Co: Stardust Films, MRC, ID8 Multimedia, Network Entertainment, Onyx Collective, Sony Music Entertainment, RadicalMedia, Two One Five Entertainment
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 13, 2025
Runtime: 1h 52m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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