In many ways, Questlove is the ideal Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee member. He has a rich, personal appreciation of a broad spectrum of musical genres, knows musical history, has worked with a hundreds of the best artists of all time, and is in tune with (and been a part of) the last quarter century of music. Last November, Questlove was asked by Gold Derby's Zach Laws about his experience on the Nominating Committee and he shared some of his thoughts and frustrations about the "interesting and amazing" process he calls, "the musical recreation of Twelve Angry Men." Some highlights:

• Questlove advocated for Bill Withers in 2015 and got him nominated (and ultimately inducted). He thinks part of the reason Withers was overlooked for so long is because his name is at the end of the alphabet and people don’t have the patience to work through to the end of the list.
• Questlove mentioned that there have been occasions where he'll say a name, and people in the room won't know that they aren't already in the Hall of Fame. “A lot of times I’ll sit on the board and I’ll say a name, and they’ll be like ‘Todd Rundgren's not in the Hall of Fame?’”
• Questlove shared the moment at the 2013 meeting when KISS was finally nominated, thanks to a passionate speech from Tom Morello: "The star of that board room is Tom Morello. I'm grateful and so fortunate to have been within two feet of him when he gave that KISS speech. It was so damn inspirational, even Jann Wenner was going to bust out into Pomp and Circumstance.”
• Questlove compares the process to Washington political lobbying. He talks about making deals with Stevie Van Zandt before the meeting to help each other get artists on the ballot (trading a J. Geils Band vote for a Janet Jackson vote, for example).
• Questlove believes there should be more women in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• Sometimes it’s the biggest names that have the hardest time getting attention. Questlove talks about discussions at last year’s meeting and how Radiohead almost got forgotten. “Radiohead was so obvious that it was almost like, I'm sure he'll mention it, or she'll mention it. Radiohead was the last name mentioned after a 3-hour process.”
• Questlove, like Chubby Checker, believes “people should get their roses while they're living.”
• ”It's such a narrow process to get through those doors... I wish there was a process that would allow at least 7 to 9 members per year. Because there are a lot of names on there that will get passed up and passed up and passed up. But I love the politics of it all. That's the fun part.”