(Radio.com) When he saw Prince's face on the cover of The Source magazine, Questlove felt inspired to hammer out 40 reasons why the Purple One should be considered a hip-hop pioneer.

In April, Quest penned a long essay for Rolling Stone exploring Prince's influence on the genre. It's a lengthy roundup but a great one --the Roots bandleader shouts out to Prince's prowess on the drum machine, his lack of regard for standard English grammar, "invention" of the remix and killer B-sides. Prince's lifestyle, like his affinity (and widely reported mad skills) for basketball also cracked the list.

The final entries-- 38) couldn't tell him NOTHING 39) always escaped into thin air 40) left us way too early -- are poignant reminders of Prince's unique, bold, and ultimately too-brief presence in music. See the list here.

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