Questlove opens up about ‘Karen’ incident at his new home

Questlove described the 'Karen' incident as 'triggering'

Nov 9, 2020

Questlove, co-founder of the iconic hip-hop band The Roots, took to his social media to reveal that he “got Karen’d” shortly after moving into his dream home.

“Walked in my brand new house & not even 60 secs later….got Karen’d #NotTodaySatan,” he began Sunday in a series of tweets.

Questlove thegrio.com — NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Questlove attends Tribeca Talks – Storytellers – Questlove with Boots Riley during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at Spring Studios on April 30, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

“I been living out of Kippling bags, room service, bus bunks, airplane lounges, studios, my 30rock HQs, & crash apts waiting for 28 years to get my 1st REAL “imma grow old here” crib. so this has been an exciting time for this chapter in my life,” he explained.

He then went on to list all the blessings in his life that got him to a place where settling down made sense, noting, “in my best relationship, gettin my act together (health/business/life goals)–the happiest I’ve ever been. figuring out where do I wanna “grow old” was a long process in the making especially in the light of covid (took a year for me to find and fall in love w this house).”

& most of the time I never share that stuff because—I guess the tiny violin in my head just dismisses it—-but man there is NO feeling like this type of violation. and I'm certain this guy thought he was doing his due diligence. but that shit is triggering AF man. TRIGGERING.
— ?st (@questlove) November 9, 2020

“Walked into my new crib and just sat there thinking about my journey: I went from CAPA to a record deal to living in Europe to making cool records & trying new avenues and now im looking at this house wondering what kind of game nights ill host.”

But before the musician could finish daydreaming about all the memories he could make in his new space, he was approached by a white neighbor, armed with two dogs who was seemingly suspicious of his presence in the area and demanded to know if he owned the property.

“It was fake passive aggressive politeness/nosey neighbor/audicity/aloofness—sh*t ruined my day so much I came back to my old apt just to let a week go by to let this anger go,” he confessed. “I dont even know why im posting this. im just tired of this sh*t. I am man. just tired.”

To those who were confused by why he believed racial bias was a factor in his run-in with the neighbors, he concluded by clarifying, “A neighbor took it upon himself to come inside my house to see if I owned it. Showed him out and shut the door in his face.”

People think we make this shit up, or we must be exaggerating. If it can happen to someone like YOU, what happens to the regular brotha' on the street – the one no one will hear about? This shit is exhausting. Keep your head up, Black Man. pic.twitter.com/YC1S3icISo
— Tracey Whitney (@SingItPretty) November 9, 2020