As the drummer for Philadelphia-based The Roots, Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson is the leader behind one of hip-hop's most acclaimed, most consistent and most influential outfits.

As a producer, he has arranged and composed songs for such progressive R&B/hip-hop artists as D'Angelo, Common, Erykah Badu and Joss Stone. As a DJ, he's just mad!

You want an example of his madness behind the turntables? Well, one night in Washington, D.C., he played a straight hour of music from Fela Kuti and Johnny Cash. That's right, the father of Afrobeat and the Man in Black, back to back, sharing the same speakers.

"If you listen to both their outputs," Thompson explains, on the phone from a Hollywood hotel, "they both have the same, similar rhythms, even though they're coming from two totally different standpoints. Rhythmically, those two come together hand-in-hand, like peanut butter and jelly."

Leave it to Thompson to find common ground between "Ring of Fire" and "Water Get No Enemy." But that's Thompson's intentions when he's in DJ ?uestlove mode. The man, who will be discussing and exhibiting his turntablism methods tonight as part of Duke's ongoing "Soul Power" series, along with Durham producer/DJ 9th Wonder, seems to get a thrill hipping the unenlightened on music other spinners don't even bother to put in their mixes.

"Usually in my set, I cover about 80 to 90 years' worth of music, you know," he says, noting a set can include anything from Benny Goodman to Miles Davis to The Beatles to the hip-hop of today. "I think it's important to be all-inclusive. I think it's important to educate people and give them a sense of history. I don't want to be [one of] those DJs that just give you what you already know, you know."

Thompson can't get enough of musical history. After all, his family lineage is steeped in musical history. His father, Goldsboro-born Lee Andrews, was the lead singer of the Philly doo-wop quintet Lee Andrews & the Hearts. And his granddad, Beechie Thompson, sang with the Dixie Hummingbirds.

If you were there at a specific moment in American musical history, there's a good chance Thompson will even inundate you with questions, like an inquisitive kid who wants to know why the sky is blue. Admits Thompson, "I had a lengthy conversation with Afrika Bambaataa and I was like, 'Tell me about Bronx River Projects. Tell me about 1976-77 at the Boys' Club. Tell me what that environment was like.' And he's like, 'Man, you don't know hip-hop until you play the intro to the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and watch 900 people from the projects in the Bronx, the toughest projects in the world, go ape[expletive].' And I'm like, 'What?'

You could say, whenever he's in a DJ booth, Thompson is trying to re-create what his hip-hop forefathers did so long ago to appreciative crowds.

"Back then, the element of surprise, the element of 'I've never heard that before,' the element of knowing which part to play, you know -- as long as it had a good drum break in it, anything was playable. Today, you can't even play, 'Mary, Mary' by the Monkees. You can't even play 'When the Levee Breaks'' by Led Zeppelin, because it hasn't been force-fed to you by radio or TV."

Thompson's schedule is so double-stuffed, it's almost a blessing that he's coming down here to musically school people tonight. (He was originally scheduled to perform Friday, but he was moved to tonight so he could perform with The Roots at the Apollo Theater in Harlem that night.) He's currently putting the finishing touches on The Roots' 10th album, "Rising Down," set for an April release. The following month, Thompson's production work will be all over Al Green's latest album. And also in the works is a side project with Philly soulster/longtime buddy Bilal and a possible teaming with Pharrell Williams on his second solo album. (?uestlove and partner James Poyser remixed Williams' last solo project, "In My Mind," which surfaced as an Internet bootleg last year called "Out of My Mind.")

But Thompson says he is glad to come down and shock (and eventually educate) audiences with his musical choices.

As DJ ?uestlove says, "I'm sure one night of not hearing Soulja Boy won't kill you."

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.