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‘SLY LIVES!' asks: What is the burden of Black genius?

As Questlove parades a litany of famous songwriters, producers, and musicians before us in the film's opening montage, we get a brief primer on why his subject was so integral to music. 'It can't be overstated how massively popular they were,' we're told of the band. Stone was also the first songwriter to use a drum machine in a hit song, 'Family Affair.' He wrote music that was classified as R&B, soul, psychedelic, funk, and rock. Sometimes a song was all of those genres at once. You probably know the band's hits, either in their original form or as samples for too many rap songs to mention. LL Cool J famously opens 'I'm Gonna Knock You Out' with a Sly & the Family Stone sample. 'Everyday People,' 'Stand,' and 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' became beloved anthems. The Advertisement Without Sly & the Family Stone, there would be no Prince and the Revolution, a notion seconded by fellow Minnesotans and Prince protégés Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. You can hear Stone's influence in Prince's music, plus both men played multiple instruments and wrote all their songs. Jam and Lewis are just two of the many talking heads the film interviews. Members of Sly & the Family Stone are also interviewed, looking much older than they do in the bounty of clips from nearly 60 years ago. The band members speak highly of their leader but also truthfully. Their tone is a mixture of love, exasperation, pain, and joy. Advertisement Director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and producer Joseph Patel. 'SLY LIVES! (a.k.a. The Burden of Black Genius)' examines the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone. Disney/Kelsey McNeal In addition to sounding great, 'SLY LIVES!' is superbly edited by Joshua L. Pearson. When you have a fellow musician and mix master like Questlove at the helm, every clip is perfectly selected; every song and sample feels part of a bigger thematic whole. Additionally, since this is a film by someone who understands how to make music, we get more than just platitudes. People like Chic's Nile Rodgers discuss how songs are crafted, and the unusual ways Stone incorporated instruments and hooks into his compositions. But all is not sunshine and flowers and hippies writhing around at Woodstock (where Sly & the Family Stone played). This is a darker film than 'Summer of Soul,' one that quickly puts us on notice. After that exhilarating and complementary montage introduces the film, Questlove presents archival footage of Sly Stone being interviewed — and it's like a kick in the gut. With the camera pointed at Stone, his interviewer says, 'There are guys and girls all over this country trying to get to the top, and you get there. And you blow it .' Immediately, you see the joy leave Stone's face. It's brutal, but it's also not untrue. Stone's own demons eventually led to drugs, run-ins with the law, and the demise of the band. If you were around for Sly & the Family Stone's Advertisement So what happened? Questlove has a theory that's summed up in his title's parenthetical aside. He presents this theory to his interview subjects. 'For Black artists in America, success can be more frightening than failure,' he says. 'The world's watching you … and I think that Sly was kind of the first Black artist to go through that publicly.' 'A burden came with his genius.' From there, 'SLY LIVES!' becomes an exploration of what 'Black genius' is, and why it may be a double-edged sword. And it's here where the film slightly disappoints — because we never get a definitive answer. Everyone has difficulty pinpointing the exact definition. I don't think I was expecting a conclusive argument, to be honest, but the creative part of me held out hope that I'd get one. Blackness forces your skillset to be held up as an example, whether you want it or not. We are not a monolith, but damn if we're not often judged as one. Perhaps Andre 3000 sums it up best when he basically says we'll know Black genius when we see it. 'SLY LIVES!' not only lets you see that genius, it also lets you hear it in the music of Sly & the Family Stone. And since this movie is streaming on Hulu, you can sing along and dance with impunity from the privacy of your own home. ★★★½ SLY LIVES! Directed by Questlove. On Hulu starting Thursday. 110 minutes. Unrated (profanity) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.