"The only way to get it is to go out and earn it
There's no turnin back cause the bridges are burnin
I used to want a manager but figured they useless
I fucked with a label but don't like how they do shit
The videos on cable fuckin cost too much
And mainstream radio is whack as fuck
Now cats back trackin that path, we up
See the folks that ignored me now ask whassup
Now they couldn't try to sign a nigga fast enough
At the start, same cats that laughed at us"
Vowing that he's "the greatest fucking emcee to never be signed," Quanstar is back with his fourth volume of unsigned music. Regrettably I missed the first three and only recently got introduced to his music, but the self-titled single off his new "Underdog" album drifted into my inbox and impressed me enough to get a spin on my weekly podcast. It's amazing how many talented rappers are putting their albums straight out to the public, for free or for a small donation fee, and just bypassing the conventional "get a deal, record an album and get it into stores nationwide" model altogether - but I digress. Suffice it to say Quan's rap on the above intro and on that single suggest a polished rapper that 10-15 years ago would have been hungrily snapped up by an indie imprint until bid on by a major label. Q found an ideal analogy for his career in the NFL:
"I'm the underdog y'all, Kurt Warner of rap
Payroll ain't even close to the salary cap!
Maybe I'm wantin too much, you shouldn't bother me
Do it my way, still make a million dollars
While most cats that are noted for playin this label game
After everybody's cut, our bank accounts look the same
So niggaz get fame, and people call they name in the mall
That's just more folks to know how you fall
See if I'MA go down I'ma GO givin my all
Rockin a couple hundred people yellin YES YES Y'ALL"
The rapper who represents A-T-L is very humble and prone to crack self-effacing jokes about his music at all times, noting on "Mr. Blue Collar" that he'll be standing in the bread line if you're not buying his rhymes. The funny thing is that he doesn't really need to be humble when you look at his bio: he's been putting out music since 2003, has toured with Black Sheep, been featured on the Vans Warped Tour and even written for TV. Perhaps he could be accused of exaggeration when he describes himself as "the hardest working man in hip-hop to never be signed," but if the resume is everything it seems to be he's definitely not a lazy cat. In fact Quan is hustling so hard that he linked up with Akil the MC (formerly of Jurassic 5) to do music, and one of those songs wound up on this album: "Heart it All Before."
Akil: "Somebody told me hell with this rap shit, nigga let the mac spit
Chop it up and package it, flip it like a mattress
You'll never make a platinum hit, won't make a classic
You ain't Jeezy, you need to quit and sell cannabis
Bang the hood, really you ain't that good
If you was, then why ain't you signed with Suge?
You seem them other niggaz quit, they wasn't feelin yo' shit
Broke and went solo now who you fuckin with?
Those you thought was true or really close to you
I seen interviews and they ain't even mention you dude
The homies wouldn't do you like that
Even though we might scrap and pull straps, niggaz still got'cha back"
Quan: "Get my kids put my hands on they ears
Trained them they're not to listen to the shit that they hear
Because if you really want it, you can get it if you wish
Just step to the plate and swing at the pitch
And even if you miss man swing again
One day you gonna hit it and begin to win
Somebody told me yo Quan, how dare you
Give kids hopes of something that's there too
I told 'em that it's simple man, I gotta give 'em good
Let 'em know that they more than the Boyz N the Hood
Not that bein a boy in the hood is bad
But when a boy's still trapped in the hood it's sad
And rather than be in the projects cookin coke like a chemist
Get a job with Coke, work in the project as a chemist"
I know you're skeptical about yet another new rapper claiming to be great but unsigned because there's anywhere from tens of thousands to millions who all think they're the shit, don't have a deal and giving away their free album or mixtape online. If that's a given, then consider how much BETTER Quanstar has to be than most of them to have actually broken through the pack. Even his guest stars stand out amongst most albums you'll download this year - Ghani Gautama makes a funny cameo on "Caffeine Hustlaz" as both men rap about pushing latte to make their pay. "Bank" featuring Juicy the Emissary has a loping clip clop beat backdrop that sets up JTE perfectly, as he sounds like a country rap version of Eminem. "It's funny right? But I'm hardly laughing." No offense Juicy, you're nice. Nato Caliph also rocks on "Revolution."
As noted earlier though, Quan believes in the swing, miss and swing again philosophy. While "Summertime" in Atlanta is undoubtedly as nice as described in rhymes, it's not impressive musically and suffers by comparison to the first hip-hop classic to rock that title. "American Dreams" is another song that needed more bump in the lab. "Relax" plays off a classic track by Tribe but it's over too early at only 1:52. I mean no disrespect to his seeds either but I don't need two skits mixed into the album of him goofing around or play-rapping along to old Vanilla Ice hits with daddy. It's worthwhile to cut Quan some slack for the tracks that don't work though, because the ones that do work more than make up for it. He's working hard to impress you, and giving you the chance to preview his album for free and then name your own price to download it. Based on what I'm hearing anything between $7-$15 would be fair, especially given it's arguably twice as good as some rappers who ARE signed and totally suck. Quan's got bill paying skills. His time in the bread line will be short.
Music Vibes: 6.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 7.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
See the review here
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Review of "The Underdog" by Angie "The Hip Hop Angel" Griffin
As I listen to the abstract beats and refined rhyme of Quanstar in his latest debut, "The Underdog," the first thing that comes to mind is "Grown Folks" Hip Hop music. This new age, independent sound is soulful. The passion that this artist delivers is clear and evident; most noticeable when you hear each song like Caffeine Hustlaz, Blame, Cleansing, and Revolution. Inclusions of QuanStar's 9-5 J.O.B, spiritual enlightened experiences, family life, societies perception in regards to rap music, and so much more flow through this album. The array of subject matter makes this one well balanced and full of soul. Dope lyrics and sound from the heart...
Kudos to Quanstar and "The Underdog."
Kudos to Quanstar and "The Underdog."
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
"The Underdog" review on Okayplayer.com
Quanstar informs us, right off the bat, that he’s no label’s puppet; he has no heavy investors; no managerial team, yet he has managed to tour the country. On his fourth installment The Underdog, from First Team Music, his flow and timing show us how that feat was possible.
A thoughtful lyricist, Quanstar raps philosophically, topically and all in between. His guest stars were well chosen and complemented his style. Akil, of J5 fame, killed it as usual, on “Heard It All Before,” Ghani Gautama on “Caffeine Hustlaz,” and Rock Most on “Blame,” both did fine jobs, even if the songs they guested on were a bit suspect in their theme (Caffeine Hustlaz is about working at a coffee chain) and Nato Caliph was a welcome addition on “Revolution?”
And while the words were strong and tasteful, the beats left me wanting for something aggressive or catchy enough to match Quanstar’s lyrical prowess. They weren’t bad, just a bit understated and, in the worst cases, bland. It’s a good thing the overall feel more than made up for what it lacked in nerve.
Sandwiched between two very short tracks of baby performances is a song called “Raising The Bar,” which must have been consciously named, as it’s the best song on the album. “Mr. Blue Collar” is another good track along with the creeping “Cleansing” and the previously mentioned “Revolution?”
Quanstar sounds like a man who knows his talents and knows that he’s worked hard to get where he is. He plays the underdog part well, maybe too well. And now that we know what he’s capable of, he’s going to have to adapt: Once people expect great things out of you, you’re no longer the underdog.
-Paul Fisher
http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/new-reviews-2010/quanstar-2010072711297/
A thoughtful lyricist, Quanstar raps philosophically, topically and all in between. His guest stars were well chosen and complemented his style. Akil, of J5 fame, killed it as usual, on “Heard It All Before,” Ghani Gautama on “Caffeine Hustlaz,” and Rock Most on “Blame,” both did fine jobs, even if the songs they guested on were a bit suspect in their theme (Caffeine Hustlaz is about working at a coffee chain) and Nato Caliph was a welcome addition on “Revolution?”
And while the words were strong and tasteful, the beats left me wanting for something aggressive or catchy enough to match Quanstar’s lyrical prowess. They weren’t bad, just a bit understated and, in the worst cases, bland. It’s a good thing the overall feel more than made up for what it lacked in nerve.
Sandwiched between two very short tracks of baby performances is a song called “Raising The Bar,” which must have been consciously named, as it’s the best song on the album. “Mr. Blue Collar” is another good track along with the creeping “Cleansing” and the previously mentioned “Revolution?”
Quanstar sounds like a man who knows his talents and knows that he’s worked hard to get where he is. He plays the underdog part well, maybe too well. And now that we know what he’s capable of, he’s going to have to adapt: Once people expect great things out of you, you’re no longer the underdog.
-Paul Fisher
http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/new-reviews-2010/quanstar-2010072711297/
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Interview with Landon Hill for Straight Outta Hip Hop.com
Following is the interview with the very talented artist Quanstar. It was a pleasure talking to him because it is clear that he knows his hip hop history and that he grew up in the culture. Not only that, but he represents for the "common man," which is rare in these days. His new album, The Underdog will be out in two days (July 27th), so make sure you check out the songs ("Caffeine Hustlaz" and "Summertime") placed directly after the interview, go to the website for the album, and enjoy the interview!
First, I want to thank you for taking the time to hold this interview. Before we really jump into things, why don’t you give a brief introduction as to who you are so that people can become more familiar with you?
Well, I’m Quanstar. I’m an emcee first and foremost. I came in the game around 2001. I’m originally from LA, from Compton, CA. I relocated from Compton to Atlanta to go to school at Clark. I was doing hip hop tours from 2001 to 2004 and dropped my first solo album the following year. Since then I’ve just been trying to tour twice a year, building a fan base. The Underdog is thefourth solo project and I’ve been doing all of this independent. I’ve never had a manager, never been signed, been my own PR person, for the most part I’ve been my head booking agent. I just wanted to do everything the right way and not deal with the B.S. most people have to put up with doing a major deal early in their career.
And what is the significance of your name?
My government name is Janale Da' Quan, so growing up my family and friends would always call me “Quan.” And so, you know when people would tag and everything, their signature would usually be their name and they would add “ster” to end of it. So, when I would tag, I would sign it “Quanster”, but one day my friend, she said I shouldstart using “Quanstar” because she said I was always acting like a star, so that’s how it came about.
That’s an interesting twist. And when I was reading you bio,I saw how you were involved in most of the founding hip hop activities; the break dancing, tagging, rhyming. You basically came from all of that.
Yeah, because what people don’t really know was that LA was like hip hop heaven in the early ‘90s. Everybody was rhymin’. It didn’t matter if you were a thug or whatever, you needed to be able to bust. People were always trying to rap, cats were dancin’, and everybody tagged a little something’. I was more into rappin’ and dancin’, though. Taggin’ was number 4 or 5 on pecking order, but that’s just how LA was. The thugs one the block wanted to hear me rap and people were always trying to battle. LA was just different. You had to be endorsed. Like E-40 could do atrack or show with Souls of Mischief. You don’t get that anywhere else but Cali.
Yeah, there seems to be this misconception about the West Coast, and specifically LA that it was just gangsta rap. All they connect it with are groups like N.W.A., but from what you’re saying, it was the same sort of feeling in LA as it was in New York.
Yeah, and even in the case of N.W.A., those cats had to be able to bust! People don’t understand thatpeople in LA grew up on Public Enemy, but they were bumpin’ Spice 1, too. They grew up on all that, so dudes were surprised when they realized everybody in LA could bust harder.
You mention moving from Compton to Atlanta, but you don’t really have a West Coast or a down South sound. Why do you think that is?
I don’t know. I don’t really have thoughts regarding any of that. It’s not generically made. It’s just important how I feel. If I hear a dope beat, then I just start writing. I want to say that there’s some big thing behind it, but it’s not. It’s how I feel and the things I go through when I rhyme. It’s probably also my influences. I listened to everybody; Melle Mel, LL, Common, Souls of Mischief, UGK. I was listening to all of this in high school, non-stop. I was a hip hop head!
Those influences really come through in your music. A lot of times people try to mimic a sound or a style and it doesn’t sound organic, but given your history, the fact that you don’t sound like a particular region or person is good. Talk a little bit about your experience like when you were down at Clark?
I went to Clark for a couple of years. Honestly, I didn’t wanna be there. I didn’t want to be in college. I didn’t know why I was there. I just knew I had to get out of Comptonfor a while. Around that time, sh*t was real hectic. It was a couple years after the riots and I knew if I didn’t get out…I saw people get caught up and I saw my friends that were 21 who had no intentions of ever leaving Cali, so I just wanted to get out. School was that way of getting out.
I wrote a blog not too long ago about how school is about education, but even more than that it’s about the experiences and getting out of your comfort zone. I went to school in Michigan and it was just so that I could get away and see different things.
And even after college, I walked around for 2 or 3 years, just fu**ed up. Working these horrible jobs, I wanted something different, something more. I may have never wanted that if I hadn’t gone to college. I might have still been a rapper, I don’t know, but I might have been talking about completely different things or doing completely different things.
I want to transition to the music for a minute. So you have The Underdog coming out. The title seems self-explanatory, but what is the motivation behind it? Why did you feel it was appropriate to drop it now? This is your fourth album in 9 years in the game, right?
Naw, it’s actually the fourth in 5 years. I was originally in a hip hop band called First Team and we dropped a couple albums in 2003 and 2004. The first solo project was in 2005, title Sometimes You Gotta Stand Alone and my second album in 2006. I also did a documentary in 2008 called Do It!: Documentary and I did a soundtrack for that. We’re actually going to re-release the documentary soon, but the message of The Underdog is…When you’ve been doin’ shows and you have connections to all these artists that have been signed…Let me put it this way because I don’t want to sound arrogant. When we came in this game, the things we do and how we did it, nobody really fu**ed with us initially and then we made this thought like “We’re not unsigned, we’re independent.” That was our thought process. Even in ATL, one or two cats were getting signed to majors, one or two cats were getting signed to independents, but me and my crew stayed on our grind. We would take a step, plan things out, tape a step, plan things out. By doing that, we been catching up with a lot of cats. And it’s not a competition or anything, but we have just as many people come to see us at a spot as the rest of these cats. Calling the album, myself, my crew, the underdog, it’s because we did a lot of things against knowledge. We went against what the music books say, what people in the industry say, what the A&Rs say, and we still did it! We didn’t take a traditional route. I don’t do numbers or talk about number of records sold. I don’t care about that. I will say this though. At no point have I had more than $4,000 to market with. I’ve had 6 national tours that I booked, that we put together and they were paid for! Nobody on the tour has to put up any money. All they gotta do is ride. That’s a huge accomplishment in music. Plus, it’s just how I do it. I got kids, and they’re pretty much my constant thought when I rap.
Speaking of your kids, what I really appreciated about your music, and the reason I wanted to have you on the blog, is how honest you are in the music. Specifically, in songs like “Summertime,” you have songs that talk about your wife and your family, which is very rare to hear nowadays. Even when artists are married, they will still make songs flaunting about how many women they are with and whatnot. Why have you chosen not to do that?
Up until about the time I was 23, I fu**ed up a huge portion of my life. After that, I told myself I was gonna do [the music] the right way and speak from my heart. I’m a family man. That’s where it comes from. As much as I tour, I still have a job. I do other things, but a huge portion of my life is at home working. My office is in my home, so I’m always around my family and my kids I don’t party. I don’t really go out unless I’m promoting. I don’t have a dream car. No matter how much money I make, you won’t hear me talking about my dream car. I’m more worried about the mileage on the car. I’ve been on that single life type of stuff. I’ve been there, but I’m a family man. I spend pretty much 89% of my time in Atlanta with my family.
It’s really refreshing to hear somebody really “keep it real.” Another song that caught my attention was “Caffeine Hustlaz.” Did you used to work at a coffee shop or were you just trying represent for all those on their grind?
I worked for a coffee corporation. I can’t say their name, but I worked for them for 8 years. Don’t get me wrong, as far as companies go, it was a great company, if you wanna work for someone. My thing has always been music. I let everybody there know that, and they accepted it. But, when you don’t wanna do anything but music, after 7,8 years it wears on you. And let me tell you this, coffee customers are some of the worst customers on the planet. They always complain about the drink, they think they know how to make the drink, when they don’t. Really, 95% of them don’t even know how to pronounce the name. This one particular time, this dude tried to bullsh*t his way into getting a free drink. He came talking about it was the wrong drink, he had his girl there, made a whole scene. We eventually had to give him a new drink, but I was so stressed off and pissed off already that after we served him, I took a break and went out and wrote that song. Working for the company, it wasn’t all bad, but it was the most stressful job I’ve ever had.
On the song “Bank,” you not only state, but repeat that half of your first million dollars is going to charity. What issues are you most concerned and passionate about?
Let me say this, the world is not racial. The powers that be make it seem racial. The world is about economics…funds. What they do is put all these poor people together, against each other, and they don’t focus on what the issue is. They put them at a tea party and they say “This black president is fu**in’ your sh*t up.” So, the poor white people are talking about taxes, when taxes is lower than it’s been in years and years. They point out health care, but most people are on Medicaid. A lot of people don’t see that. One of the founders of the Tea Party was a millionaire saying “Think about me, don’t think about yourself.” If you’re white and you’re poor, you got a lot more in common with people in Compton than you do with somebody that’s wealthy. I’ve performed in Charleston, West Virginia. I got more in common with people there than somewhere that has a lot of money. It’s all about money. So what I want to do is teach people what credit is really about. Educating people on investing for the future, how money flows, how the FDIC goes, how the bank really runs. Talk about that 1% you get back on your account from the bank don’t mean sh*t because the bank is getting 12% from your money. The other thing I’m really passionate about is helping families. I’m gonna help families that work hard, that do everything they need to do, and take them through a one year course. I’m gonna pick a family from ATL, from Compton, from Oakland, from these different areas and get them a house. We’ll show them how to mix it up, show them what they need to do to maintain it. That’s what I want to be involved in.
It’s good to see somebody who really wants to be involved and raise awareness. The key to changing anything is awareness. Given that you’ve been independent this long now and you have been able to do all these things on your own, are you just not even considering being signed?
It’s not that I would take a label deal or anything. I’ve been approached, been offered vehicles and everything, but it’s not about that. I want creative control of my project. I want to own my masters and publishing. I have a book coming soon. I have documentary. I want freedom to do all these things. If those can be guaranteed contractually, then we can do that. It’s probably not gonna happen. For me to be signed should mean my situation is being increased. It’s the same situation just on a bigger scale.
That’s where a lot of people get screwed is signing away their masters and publishing. That’s probably stressed more than anything else.
Yeah, that’s where you really make the money. That’s why the labels want to keep it.
I love asking this next question, and so I’m interested to hear your response. If you were introducing somebody to hip hop for the first time, what album would you give them and why?
That’s a good one…I’ll probably end up giving them “The Message” the song. It’s the greatest song to me, for a number of reasons. The sample can still run today. I have favorite albums and favorite groups, but everybody started at that point. I would have said Resurrection from Common or Black Star, but all that came from “The Message.” I bet if you were to ask all these guys, “The Message” is in their top 5.
That’s true. That’s definitely where the social and political commentary of hip hop started.
But it’s even more than that. It was anything other than party music. The way you ride the bass and melody like you do. All that came from that song. Hip Hop was reinvented in that song. It wasn’t just the lyrics, but how it was done and arranged. That’s probably the most powerful song in hip hop history.
If nothing else, what should people take away from this interview?
Just that I love hip hop and I love my kids. And I have a good album because of it. Check out the website at quanstarmusic.com. I also have a national tour that I’ve been putting together for years now called the Bring Your A Game Tour. They can go to www.bringyouragametour.com for more information. Shout out to my folks, Ghani Gautama, Evaready RAW, and Dlabrie, and my DJ, Metronome. He produced “Caffeine Hustlaz.” Shout out Juicy the Emissary, Lexzyne Production for the songs they did on the album. I actually met them on Twitter. I loveTwitter. It really allows you to connect and network with people.
Where can they pick the album up?
The album comes out on July 27th and for now it’s gonna be on the website. I had a little glitch with my distributors, so it’ll be at all digital stores a few weeks after it comes out. It’s a strictly digital release, so they can just goto the website now and it’ll be at all digital stores soon after that.
Well, I appreciate your time. Good luck with the album and everything else.
I appreciate the interview and having a chance to speak to your crowd.
http://www.straightouttahiphop.com
First, I want to thank you for taking the time to hold this interview. Before we really jump into things, why don’t you give a brief introduction as to who you are so that people can become more familiar with you?
Well, I’m Quanstar. I’m an emcee first and foremost. I came in the game around 2001. I’m originally from LA, from Compton, CA. I relocated from Compton to Atlanta to go to school at Clark. I was doing hip hop tours from 2001 to 2004 and dropped my first solo album the following year. Since then I’ve just been trying to tour twice a year, building a fan base. The Underdog is thefourth solo project and I’ve been doing all of this independent. I’ve never had a manager, never been signed, been my own PR person, for the most part I’ve been my head booking agent. I just wanted to do everything the right way and not deal with the B.S. most people have to put up with doing a major deal early in their career.
And what is the significance of your name?
My government name is Janale Da' Quan, so growing up my family and friends would always call me “Quan.” And so, you know when people would tag and everything, their signature would usually be their name and they would add “ster” to end of it. So, when I would tag, I would sign it “Quanster”, but one day my friend, she said I shouldstart using “Quanstar” because she said I was always acting like a star, so that’s how it came about.
That’s an interesting twist. And when I was reading you bio,I saw how you were involved in most of the founding hip hop activities; the break dancing, tagging, rhyming. You basically came from all of that.
Yeah, because what people don’t really know was that LA was like hip hop heaven in the early ‘90s. Everybody was rhymin’. It didn’t matter if you were a thug or whatever, you needed to be able to bust. People were always trying to rap, cats were dancin’, and everybody tagged a little something’. I was more into rappin’ and dancin’, though. Taggin’ was number 4 or 5 on pecking order, but that’s just how LA was. The thugs one the block wanted to hear me rap and people were always trying to battle. LA was just different. You had to be endorsed. Like E-40 could do atrack or show with Souls of Mischief. You don’t get that anywhere else but Cali.
Yeah, there seems to be this misconception about the West Coast, and specifically LA that it was just gangsta rap. All they connect it with are groups like N.W.A., but from what you’re saying, it was the same sort of feeling in LA as it was in New York.
Yeah, and even in the case of N.W.A., those cats had to be able to bust! People don’t understand thatpeople in LA grew up on Public Enemy, but they were bumpin’ Spice 1, too. They grew up on all that, so dudes were surprised when they realized everybody in LA could bust harder.
You mention moving from Compton to Atlanta, but you don’t really have a West Coast or a down South sound. Why do you think that is?
I don’t know. I don’t really have thoughts regarding any of that. It’s not generically made. It’s just important how I feel. If I hear a dope beat, then I just start writing. I want to say that there’s some big thing behind it, but it’s not. It’s how I feel and the things I go through when I rhyme. It’s probably also my influences. I listened to everybody; Melle Mel, LL, Common, Souls of Mischief, UGK. I was listening to all of this in high school, non-stop. I was a hip hop head!
Those influences really come through in your music. A lot of times people try to mimic a sound or a style and it doesn’t sound organic, but given your history, the fact that you don’t sound like a particular region or person is good. Talk a little bit about your experience like when you were down at Clark?
I went to Clark for a couple of years. Honestly, I didn’t wanna be there. I didn’t want to be in college. I didn’t know why I was there. I just knew I had to get out of Comptonfor a while. Around that time, sh*t was real hectic. It was a couple years after the riots and I knew if I didn’t get out…I saw people get caught up and I saw my friends that were 21 who had no intentions of ever leaving Cali, so I just wanted to get out. School was that way of getting out.
I wrote a blog not too long ago about how school is about education, but even more than that it’s about the experiences and getting out of your comfort zone. I went to school in Michigan and it was just so that I could get away and see different things.
And even after college, I walked around for 2 or 3 years, just fu**ed up. Working these horrible jobs, I wanted something different, something more. I may have never wanted that if I hadn’t gone to college. I might have still been a rapper, I don’t know, but I might have been talking about completely different things or doing completely different things.
I want to transition to the music for a minute. So you have The Underdog coming out. The title seems self-explanatory, but what is the motivation behind it? Why did you feel it was appropriate to drop it now? This is your fourth album in 9 years in the game, right?
Naw, it’s actually the fourth in 5 years. I was originally in a hip hop band called First Team and we dropped a couple albums in 2003 and 2004. The first solo project was in 2005, title Sometimes You Gotta Stand Alone and my second album in 2006. I also did a documentary in 2008 called Do It!: Documentary and I did a soundtrack for that. We’re actually going to re-release the documentary soon, but the message of The Underdog is…When you’ve been doin’ shows and you have connections to all these artists that have been signed…Let me put it this way because I don’t want to sound arrogant. When we came in this game, the things we do and how we did it, nobody really fu**ed with us initially and then we made this thought like “We’re not unsigned, we’re independent.” That was our thought process. Even in ATL, one or two cats were getting signed to majors, one or two cats were getting signed to independents, but me and my crew stayed on our grind. We would take a step, plan things out, tape a step, plan things out. By doing that, we been catching up with a lot of cats. And it’s not a competition or anything, but we have just as many people come to see us at a spot as the rest of these cats. Calling the album, myself, my crew, the underdog, it’s because we did a lot of things against knowledge. We went against what the music books say, what people in the industry say, what the A&Rs say, and we still did it! We didn’t take a traditional route. I don’t do numbers or talk about number of records sold. I don’t care about that. I will say this though. At no point have I had more than $4,000 to market with. I’ve had 6 national tours that I booked, that we put together and they were paid for! Nobody on the tour has to put up any money. All they gotta do is ride. That’s a huge accomplishment in music. Plus, it’s just how I do it. I got kids, and they’re pretty much my constant thought when I rap.
Speaking of your kids, what I really appreciated about your music, and the reason I wanted to have you on the blog, is how honest you are in the music. Specifically, in songs like “Summertime,” you have songs that talk about your wife and your family, which is very rare to hear nowadays. Even when artists are married, they will still make songs flaunting about how many women they are with and whatnot. Why have you chosen not to do that?
Up until about the time I was 23, I fu**ed up a huge portion of my life. After that, I told myself I was gonna do [the music] the right way and speak from my heart. I’m a family man. That’s where it comes from. As much as I tour, I still have a job. I do other things, but a huge portion of my life is at home working. My office is in my home, so I’m always around my family and my kids I don’t party. I don’t really go out unless I’m promoting. I don’t have a dream car. No matter how much money I make, you won’t hear me talking about my dream car. I’m more worried about the mileage on the car. I’ve been on that single life type of stuff. I’ve been there, but I’m a family man. I spend pretty much 89% of my time in Atlanta with my family.
It’s really refreshing to hear somebody really “keep it real.” Another song that caught my attention was “Caffeine Hustlaz.” Did you used to work at a coffee shop or were you just trying represent for all those on their grind?
I worked for a coffee corporation. I can’t say their name, but I worked for them for 8 years. Don’t get me wrong, as far as companies go, it was a great company, if you wanna work for someone. My thing has always been music. I let everybody there know that, and they accepted it. But, when you don’t wanna do anything but music, after 7,8 years it wears on you. And let me tell you this, coffee customers are some of the worst customers on the planet. They always complain about the drink, they think they know how to make the drink, when they don’t. Really, 95% of them don’t even know how to pronounce the name. This one particular time, this dude tried to bullsh*t his way into getting a free drink. He came talking about it was the wrong drink, he had his girl there, made a whole scene. We eventually had to give him a new drink, but I was so stressed off and pissed off already that after we served him, I took a break and went out and wrote that song. Working for the company, it wasn’t all bad, but it was the most stressful job I’ve ever had.
On the song “Bank,” you not only state, but repeat that half of your first million dollars is going to charity. What issues are you most concerned and passionate about?
Let me say this, the world is not racial. The powers that be make it seem racial. The world is about economics…funds. What they do is put all these poor people together, against each other, and they don’t focus on what the issue is. They put them at a tea party and they say “This black president is fu**in’ your sh*t up.” So, the poor white people are talking about taxes, when taxes is lower than it’s been in years and years. They point out health care, but most people are on Medicaid. A lot of people don’t see that. One of the founders of the Tea Party was a millionaire saying “Think about me, don’t think about yourself.” If you’re white and you’re poor, you got a lot more in common with people in Compton than you do with somebody that’s wealthy. I’ve performed in Charleston, West Virginia. I got more in common with people there than somewhere that has a lot of money. It’s all about money. So what I want to do is teach people what credit is really about. Educating people on investing for the future, how money flows, how the FDIC goes, how the bank really runs. Talk about that 1% you get back on your account from the bank don’t mean sh*t because the bank is getting 12% from your money. The other thing I’m really passionate about is helping families. I’m gonna help families that work hard, that do everything they need to do, and take them through a one year course. I’m gonna pick a family from ATL, from Compton, from Oakland, from these different areas and get them a house. We’ll show them how to mix it up, show them what they need to do to maintain it. That’s what I want to be involved in.
It’s good to see somebody who really wants to be involved and raise awareness. The key to changing anything is awareness. Given that you’ve been independent this long now and you have been able to do all these things on your own, are you just not even considering being signed?
It’s not that I would take a label deal or anything. I’ve been approached, been offered vehicles and everything, but it’s not about that. I want creative control of my project. I want to own my masters and publishing. I have a book coming soon. I have documentary. I want freedom to do all these things. If those can be guaranteed contractually, then we can do that. It’s probably not gonna happen. For me to be signed should mean my situation is being increased. It’s the same situation just on a bigger scale.
That’s where a lot of people get screwed is signing away their masters and publishing. That’s probably stressed more than anything else.
Yeah, that’s where you really make the money. That’s why the labels want to keep it.
I love asking this next question, and so I’m interested to hear your response. If you were introducing somebody to hip hop for the first time, what album would you give them and why?
That’s a good one…I’ll probably end up giving them “The Message” the song. It’s the greatest song to me, for a number of reasons. The sample can still run today. I have favorite albums and favorite groups, but everybody started at that point. I would have said Resurrection from Common or Black Star, but all that came from “The Message.” I bet if you were to ask all these guys, “The Message” is in their top 5.
That’s true. That’s definitely where the social and political commentary of hip hop started.
But it’s even more than that. It was anything other than party music. The way you ride the bass and melody like you do. All that came from that song. Hip Hop was reinvented in that song. It wasn’t just the lyrics, but how it was done and arranged. That’s probably the most powerful song in hip hop history.
If nothing else, what should people take away from this interview?
Just that I love hip hop and I love my kids. And I have a good album because of it. Check out the website at quanstarmusic.com. I also have a national tour that I’ve been putting together for years now called the Bring Your A Game Tour. They can go to www.bringyouragametour.com for more information. Shout out to my folks, Ghani Gautama, Evaready RAW, and Dlabrie, and my DJ, Metronome. He produced “Caffeine Hustlaz.” Shout out Juicy the Emissary, Lexzyne Production for the songs they did on the album. I actually met them on Twitter. I loveTwitter. It really allows you to connect and network with people.
Where can they pick the album up?
The album comes out on July 27th and for now it’s gonna be on the website. I had a little glitch with my distributors, so it’ll be at all digital stores a few weeks after it comes out. It’s a strictly digital release, so they can just goto the website now and it’ll be at all digital stores soon after that.
Well, I appreciate your time. Good luck with the album and everything else.
I appreciate the interview and having a chance to speak to your crowd.
http://www.straightouttahiphop.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
"The Underdog" review by Nikki T. Duvall Owner/Executive Marketing Consultant Movacci (mo vah see) and founder of SocioSync™
"The Underdog" review by Nikki T. Duvall owner/executive marketing consultant Movacci (mo vah see) and founder of SOCIOSYNC.
Overall, on a scale from 1 to 10. Using in this case, a scale based upon artists, not currently signed to a major record label. I'd give the album "The Underdog" by Quanstar, a strong 8, and here's why:
The album overall, has a very main-stream edge to it, meaning it has a professional, and very nicely engineered and mastered sound, a good lyrical flow and at the same time, dynamic enough for a couple of the tracks to do well on radio, others to do well in concert, and yet others to do well in a video. Very comparable to much of the music that's out today, that's selling really well.
The style and sound of the Album, to me, is mostly East Coast, in the sense that it has an “Uptown” type-of-a-sound, which includes strong percussion and horns mixed into the music bed of many of the tracks.
At the same time, there are a few tracks on the album, that to me, do come across to sound very similar in nature. This I say, from the perspective of how, if you were to scan through an album quickly … forwarding from track to track … in a record store … trying to quickly hear, what’s on the CD; in order to quickly decide; whether to make a purchase (or not). Even with this in mind, I say that, out of the 15 tracks on the album, at least 8 of them really do stand-out; and are very solid.
The following is my review, of each of the individual songs on the album. I've placed an asterisk (*) by each track, using a 5 star system:
---------------------------------
**** Track 1 "The Intro" - actually catches you right away. It has a real cool, Summertime, "hanging with my people and them", at the BBQ, Family Reunion, House Party (or where-ever), Neo Soul swing, mixed with a Jazz Band set; type of a feel to it.
*** Track 2 "Underdog" - puts you in the mind of something that you may actually hear from an artist like Jay Z. This song is a, "how I came-up in the game", type of song. The vocalist harmonizing on the chorus of the song, makes you especially want to kick-back, and listen to this song even more.
***** Track 3 "Mr. Blue Collar" - is one of the songs, that makes you think back-to, back-in-the-days, of Super Fly and Foxy Brown. This song has got that type of, "I'm Fly, I'm Here … and On The Set”, type of sound. You can easily imagine rolling through the city, in an old school Delta 88. Drop-top. At night. Fresh and clean to this one.
*** Track 4 "Relax" - is also a laid-back, yet really smooth track.
**** Track 5 "Heard It All Before" - is one of those songs where you might just be kick-backed in your favorite chair, sipping on something, and meditating on the world, and the day to day ... all while visualizing, just how exactly, you're going to make your come-up. This song has a smooth sound, that has that just right chemistry of music, within the music.
*** Track 6 "Caffeine Hustlaz" - this song is one that you could imagine being performed, as a part of a live-set, in a quaint night club, that might also serve as a location for poetry readers, and other, live, loud and abstract -- but yet -- creative artists.
**** Track 7 "Blame Featuring Rock Most" - is almost nursery rhyme (in a good way) in terms of how easily the lyrics flow together, in order to tell the story. This song, is another one of the songs, on the album that you can lay-back-to, thinking … while putting the world in perspective. I really appreciate the “Jazz/Ragtime” Sound, inserted into the music bed of this song.
*** Track 8 "Cleansing" - you can hear the Jazz elements, real strong, in the music-bed of this song. Especially by way of the drums. Lyrically the song is also very catchy; especially the chorus, also known as “the hook”.
***** Track 9 "Bank Featuring Juicy The Emissary" - this song kind-of forces you to focus in and think about, right where you are … with your own hustle … and how you should really consider stepping things up just a tad-bit. The music track is aggressive enough to make you bounce your head while listening. And the feature by Emissary, is definitely right on time.
***** Track 10 "Revolution" - is a very passionate song about the struggle ... the struggle that we all face … the view points and the opinions that we all tend to develop ... as we see the day to day, take place, and happen around us. The Lyrics and Music are very much a good compliment, and right on time in this song. I'd give this song more than 5 stars, but, I've limited myself to a 5-star rating system.
**** Track 11 "American Dreams" - is a good solo representation of Quanstar's lyrical skills. His ability to deliver, in almost perfect syncopation, with the beat of the music track, are demonstrated very well through this song. This is another song to ride-to, late at night, with the top-down on the ride.
Track 12 “Jr. Doing Ice Ice Baby” --- Interlude ---
**** Track 13 "Raise The Bar" - is a song with a very Smooth Jazz Sound, and is understandably a very heart-felt track. You can hear the sincerity in the lyrics as Quanstar lyrically dedicates this song to his child.
Track 14 “Jernal Ho Ho Ho --- Interlude ---
*** Track 15 "Summertime" - is another track with purpose. Another one of those that has a Summertime type of feel to it.
Overall, on a scale from 1 to 10. Using in this case, a scale based upon artists, not currently signed to a major record label. I'd give the album "The Underdog" by Quanstar, a strong 8, and here's why:
The album overall, has a very main-stream edge to it, meaning it has a professional, and very nicely engineered and mastered sound, a good lyrical flow and at the same time, dynamic enough for a couple of the tracks to do well on radio, others to do well in concert, and yet others to do well in a video. Very comparable to much of the music that's out today, that's selling really well.
The style and sound of the Album, to me, is mostly East Coast, in the sense that it has an “Uptown” type-of-a-sound, which includes strong percussion and horns mixed into the music bed of many of the tracks.
At the same time, there are a few tracks on the album, that to me, do come across to sound very similar in nature. This I say, from the perspective of how, if you were to scan through an album quickly … forwarding from track to track … in a record store … trying to quickly hear, what’s on the CD; in order to quickly decide; whether to make a purchase (or not). Even with this in mind, I say that, out of the 15 tracks on the album, at least 8 of them really do stand-out; and are very solid.
The following is my review, of each of the individual songs on the album. I've placed an asterisk (*) by each track, using a 5 star system:
---------------------------------
**** Track 1 "The Intro" - actually catches you right away. It has a real cool, Summertime, "hanging with my people and them", at the BBQ, Family Reunion, House Party (or where-ever), Neo Soul swing, mixed with a Jazz Band set; type of a feel to it.
*** Track 2 "Underdog" - puts you in the mind of something that you may actually hear from an artist like Jay Z. This song is a, "how I came-up in the game", type of song. The vocalist harmonizing on the chorus of the song, makes you especially want to kick-back, and listen to this song even more.
***** Track 3 "Mr. Blue Collar" - is one of the songs, that makes you think back-to, back-in-the-days, of Super Fly and Foxy Brown. This song has got that type of, "I'm Fly, I'm Here … and On The Set”, type of sound. You can easily imagine rolling through the city, in an old school Delta 88. Drop-top. At night. Fresh and clean to this one.
*** Track 4 "Relax" - is also a laid-back, yet really smooth track.
**** Track 5 "Heard It All Before" - is one of those songs where you might just be kick-backed in your favorite chair, sipping on something, and meditating on the world, and the day to day ... all while visualizing, just how exactly, you're going to make your come-up. This song has a smooth sound, that has that just right chemistry of music, within the music.
*** Track 6 "Caffeine Hustlaz" - this song is one that you could imagine being performed, as a part of a live-set, in a quaint night club, that might also serve as a location for poetry readers, and other, live, loud and abstract -- but yet -- creative artists.
**** Track 7 "Blame Featuring Rock Most" - is almost nursery rhyme (in a good way) in terms of how easily the lyrics flow together, in order to tell the story. This song, is another one of the songs, on the album that you can lay-back-to, thinking … while putting the world in perspective. I really appreciate the “Jazz/Ragtime” Sound, inserted into the music bed of this song.
*** Track 8 "Cleansing" - you can hear the Jazz elements, real strong, in the music-bed of this song. Especially by way of the drums. Lyrically the song is also very catchy; especially the chorus, also known as “the hook”.
***** Track 9 "Bank Featuring Juicy The Emissary" - this song kind-of forces you to focus in and think about, right where you are … with your own hustle … and how you should really consider stepping things up just a tad-bit. The music track is aggressive enough to make you bounce your head while listening. And the feature by Emissary, is definitely right on time.
***** Track 10 "Revolution" - is a very passionate song about the struggle ... the struggle that we all face … the view points and the opinions that we all tend to develop ... as we see the day to day, take place, and happen around us. The Lyrics and Music are very much a good compliment, and right on time in this song. I'd give this song more than 5 stars, but, I've limited myself to a 5-star rating system.
**** Track 11 "American Dreams" - is a good solo representation of Quanstar's lyrical skills. His ability to deliver, in almost perfect syncopation, with the beat of the music track, are demonstrated very well through this song. This is another song to ride-to, late at night, with the top-down on the ride.
Track 12 “Jr. Doing Ice Ice Baby” --- Interlude ---
**** Track 13 "Raise The Bar" - is a song with a very Smooth Jazz Sound, and is understandably a very heart-felt track. You can hear the sincerity in the lyrics as Quanstar lyrically dedicates this song to his child.
Track 14 “Jernal Ho Ho Ho --- Interlude ---
*** Track 15 "Summertime" - is another track with purpose. Another one of those that has a Summertime type of feel to it.
Monday, July 12, 2010
How "The Underdog" came out on top by Melle Mels
The story of balancing a lifelong dream and the responsibilities of a family, “The Underdog” is the refreshing break away from mainstream we get from the Atlanta based artist Quanstar. The Compton native uses his fourth solo album to reject the calculated formula of flashy cars, women and money set in a hot spot night club running rampant in the current industry. He instead takes his experience and becomes something everyone can relate to, Mr. Blue Collar. And while one reality is never a more worthy experience than another, Quanstar brings integrity to his craft by embracing everyday life and layering it atop a melodic mix of feel good tracks. From Cleansing the past, wanting to Raise the Bar for his children, to remaining honest about the socioeconomic strife in chasing American Dreams, there is no exaggerations. No sugarcoating. No scripts. No giving up. Just one man’s journey from no other point of view than his own; for this “The Underdog” comes out on top.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Herald Dispatch 5/2009
May 2009 Herald Dispatch 03/16/2010
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V Club hosts 'Bring Your 'A' Game' tour featuring hip hop artistsMay 14, 2009 @ 12:00 AM
DAVE LAVENDER
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON -- If you need any more evidence that it truly is a hip hop musical planet, Akil The MC (ATM) of Jurassic 5 just rolled his solo tour into Cambodia in January, then rolled through those, uh, hip hop havens of Eastern Europe -- Croatia, Bulgaria and Macedonia.
Now out on "The Bring Your 'A' Game Tour, titled Bennington Bound," Akil and tour leader Quanstar have been rolling through Ben and Jerry's strongholds of Montpelier, Bennington and Burlington, Vt., on this cross-country tour bringing the best of indie hip hop to hip hop fans from Brooklyn and Philadelphia to Huntington.
Now in its sixth year, "The Bring Your 'A' Game Tour Series" rolls into the V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 16, with an array of underground hip hop artists from around the country.
Headliners are Akil, who is promoting his new solo release of "Collection of Expressions," and Quanstar, pushing the hip hop movie and soundtrack "Do It!: A Documentary."
Also on the tour are Evaready RAW, promoting his album "Appliable Adaptability;" Ghani Gautama with his new release "Few Against Many;" Oakland emcee and activist DLabrie The EOG; Vermont "Hip Pop" band, Strength In Numbers; and "indie" super producer and DJ Metrognome.
Opening the Huntington show is Charleston's two-man rhyme-spitting team Rabbles Rousers (B-Rude and Meuwl), who are also opening for Freekbass in Charleston on Friday night.
Cover for Saturday night's V Club show is $8 advance or $10 day of the show.
Akil, who spent 1997 to 2007 with Jurassic 5, one of the mainstays of the 1990s alternative hip hop scene and a group that played Lollapalooza, and did projects with Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, SouLive and others, said it's been beautiful to see the way people around the planet have taken hip hop and made it something of their own.
"I think it's cool that hip hop is everywhere and that you can't just put it in one place in New York or L.A.," Akil said by phone, after a gig in Philly. "We are going to off-the-wall places. I'm not dissing on Vermont, but it's not the first place people would say to perform hip hop. But it's been cool and I think that says a lot about the acceptance of hip hop. I have been around from the beginning of it first being on radio and commercial and to see if grow from that to where it is relevant in Vermont and Cambodia is a testament to hip hop itself."
Akil, an L.A. native whose real name is D. Givens, said this is the seventh year for Quanstar (Janale Harris) to tour his "The Bring Your 'A' Game Tour," a yearly celebration of underground hip hop connecting audiences with some of the most talented acts they will not see through mainstream media channels.
Akil, who's on the tour for the second year, said that face-to-face networking and sharing the music is what he is all about.
"I have found some of the dopest artists from all over which made me create a movement called the Unified Skills District," Akil said. "It's a movement of artists from all over the world who want to link and network together. We are trying to unify them where they are at. I started a movement in my own backyard in L.A. with Los Angeles Unified and we've taken that around the world. I run into a lot of talented people in some of the most remote places. They are looking for a way out and they see me maybe as the closest thing to them being able to make it out. I try to give them as much advice as I can and try to boost them up."
Akil said his new CD, "Collection of Expressions," showcases his writing which he honed fighting for a line and rhyme in Jurassic 5.
"I like to describe the CD as I am going down the same street but stopping at a different house with different stuff in that house," Akil said. "It's still the same street, me a solo artist, but encompasses more who I am and where I come from. I get to state more things than I did in a group setting. I couldn't do that. With four bars here or there I had to really say what I had to say. That built my style. I had to write with more meaning on every line. That's worked to my benefit and enables me to write faster in many different styles. I grew up listening to hip hop when it had a variety to it."
Akil, who grew up listening to everything from Public Enemy and KRS-1 to Masters of Ceremony, The Fat Boys and DJ Jazz Jeff, said that is one of the strengths of "Bring Your A Game," in that it showcases the diversity of hip hop, something not readily available on commercial radio.
"I think that is the natural progression of hip hop and of music in general," Akil said of so many different musical styles mashing up. "It picks up everything that comes close to it. The music has brought everything together. R&B is hip hop and rock is hip hop and hip hop is rock. It has brought all these vibes, and it has brought everybody into it and everybody tries to add their own distinct tastes."
August 2009 Charleston City Paper 03/16/2010
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Things should groove hard this evening (Aug. 27) evening at the Pour House as rapper Akil — known best for his work with L.A. group of Jurassic 5 — and Quanstar headline a late-night set and N.C. roots/groove act Laura Reed & Deep Pocket do double-time on the deck and as the opener in the main room. Jurassic 5 released their first disc back in 1997 before signing to Interscope Records and issuing their major debut, Quality Control. They effectively broke up last year. Akil, a.k.a. Akil the MC, currently works as a freestylin’ emcee, DJ, studio producer, and community activist.
“I’m just a down-to-earth brother from South Los Angeles, born and raised,” he says. Akil’s debut solo album is in the works. Expect a hectic and lively mix of old-school funk, turntable scratchin’, and conscious rhymes. Admission is $12, $10 (adv.).
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V Club hosts 'Bring Your 'A' Game' tour featuring hip hop artistsMay 14, 2009 @ 12:00 AM
DAVE LAVENDER
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON -- If you need any more evidence that it truly is a hip hop musical planet, Akil The MC (ATM) of Jurassic 5 just rolled his solo tour into Cambodia in January, then rolled through those, uh, hip hop havens of Eastern Europe -- Croatia, Bulgaria and Macedonia.
Now out on "The Bring Your 'A' Game Tour, titled Bennington Bound," Akil and tour leader Quanstar have been rolling through Ben and Jerry's strongholds of Montpelier, Bennington and Burlington, Vt., on this cross-country tour bringing the best of indie hip hop to hip hop fans from Brooklyn and Philadelphia to Huntington.
Now in its sixth year, "The Bring Your 'A' Game Tour Series" rolls into the V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 16, with an array of underground hip hop artists from around the country.
Headliners are Akil, who is promoting his new solo release of "Collection of Expressions," and Quanstar, pushing the hip hop movie and soundtrack "Do It!: A Documentary."
Also on the tour are Evaready RAW, promoting his album "Appliable Adaptability;" Ghani Gautama with his new release "Few Against Many;" Oakland emcee and activist DLabrie The EOG; Vermont "Hip Pop" band, Strength In Numbers; and "indie" super producer and DJ Metrognome.
Opening the Huntington show is Charleston's two-man rhyme-spitting team Rabbles Rousers (B-Rude and Meuwl), who are also opening for Freekbass in Charleston on Friday night.
Cover for Saturday night's V Club show is $8 advance or $10 day of the show.
Akil, who spent 1997 to 2007 with Jurassic 5, one of the mainstays of the 1990s alternative hip hop scene and a group that played Lollapalooza, and did projects with Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, SouLive and others, said it's been beautiful to see the way people around the planet have taken hip hop and made it something of their own.
"I think it's cool that hip hop is everywhere and that you can't just put it in one place in New York or L.A.," Akil said by phone, after a gig in Philly. "We are going to off-the-wall places. I'm not dissing on Vermont, but it's not the first place people would say to perform hip hop. But it's been cool and I think that says a lot about the acceptance of hip hop. I have been around from the beginning of it first being on radio and commercial and to see if grow from that to where it is relevant in Vermont and Cambodia is a testament to hip hop itself."
Akil, an L.A. native whose real name is D. Givens, said this is the seventh year for Quanstar (Janale Harris) to tour his "The Bring Your 'A' Game Tour," a yearly celebration of underground hip hop connecting audiences with some of the most talented acts they will not see through mainstream media channels.
Akil, who's on the tour for the second year, said that face-to-face networking and sharing the music is what he is all about.
"I have found some of the dopest artists from all over which made me create a movement called the Unified Skills District," Akil said. "It's a movement of artists from all over the world who want to link and network together. We are trying to unify them where they are at. I started a movement in my own backyard in L.A. with Los Angeles Unified and we've taken that around the world. I run into a lot of talented people in some of the most remote places. They are looking for a way out and they see me maybe as the closest thing to them being able to make it out. I try to give them as much advice as I can and try to boost them up."
Akil said his new CD, "Collection of Expressions," showcases his writing which he honed fighting for a line and rhyme in Jurassic 5.
"I like to describe the CD as I am going down the same street but stopping at a different house with different stuff in that house," Akil said. "It's still the same street, me a solo artist, but encompasses more who I am and where I come from. I get to state more things than I did in a group setting. I couldn't do that. With four bars here or there I had to really say what I had to say. That built my style. I had to write with more meaning on every line. That's worked to my benefit and enables me to write faster in many different styles. I grew up listening to hip hop when it had a variety to it."
Akil, who grew up listening to everything from Public Enemy and KRS-1 to Masters of Ceremony, The Fat Boys and DJ Jazz Jeff, said that is one of the strengths of "Bring Your A Game," in that it showcases the diversity of hip hop, something not readily available on commercial radio.
"I think that is the natural progression of hip hop and of music in general," Akil said of so many different musical styles mashing up. "It picks up everything that comes close to it. The music has brought everything together. R&B is hip hop and rock is hip hop and hip hop is rock. It has brought all these vibes, and it has brought everybody into it and everybody tries to add their own distinct tastes."
August 2009 Charleston City Paper 03/16/2010
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Things should groove hard this evening (Aug. 27) evening at the Pour House as rapper Akil — known best for his work with L.A. group of Jurassic 5 — and Quanstar headline a late-night set and N.C. roots/groove act Laura Reed & Deep Pocket do double-time on the deck and as the opener in the main room. Jurassic 5 released their first disc back in 1997 before signing to Interscope Records and issuing their major debut, Quality Control. They effectively broke up last year. Akil, a.k.a. Akil the MC, currently works as a freestylin’ emcee, DJ, studio producer, and community activist.
“I’m just a down-to-earth brother from South Los Angeles, born and raised,” he says. Akil’s debut solo album is in the works. Expect a hectic and lively mix of old-school funk, turntable scratchin’, and conscious rhymes. Admission is $12, $10 (adv.).
Tacoma Weekly 11/2008
‘Do It! A Documentary’
Film by hip-hop icon Quanstar teaches valuable life lessons
By Matt Nagle
Tacoma Weekly
mnagle@tacomaweekly.com
THAT’S A RAP. Quanstar’s live shows feature tracks from the five CDs he has released along with new material he’s constantly writing.
Janale Harris, a.k.a. Quanstar, is a man of many talents, and he is working his tail off trying to get others to realize it too. An underground hip-hop artist, emcee, author, publicist, promoter, booking agent, the father of a little boy with a second one on the way, and working two jobs, Quanstar could easily be called the hardest working man in hip-hop. One thing is for sure: Quanstar’s life proves that trying to make a name for oneself in the world of entertainment is indeed a hard knock life.
Despite the big load that is on his shoulders, Quanstar strives to keep his spirits high with good friends and a caring family, who appear in the film, to support his dream of “making it” whether that is in the lights of a concert hall marquee or in the eyes of his sons. He is determined to go the extra mile in all of his endeavors, and he has produced a documentary that shows exactly that. On Nov. 24, his film “Do It! A Documentary” will be shown at University of Puget Sound’s Rausch Auditorium at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Directed by Anthony Neal, “Do It!” is a real-life account of Quanstar’s life over the course of six months as he works to balance all the things that are going on in his life with his desire for personal achievement. It is gritty, not glamorous, and refreshingly honest. Whether he is in the studio laying down tracks, on the phone trying to line up sponsors for his annual “The Bring Your ‘A’ Game Tour,” almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere trying to get to his next gig, or relaxing at home celebrating his son Janale Jr.’s birthday, the camera is there recording it all and the results are fascinating and at times heartwarming. Seeing this film, you may easily find yourself caught up in his journey to the point that you are rooting for the guy to succeed. Above all, it teaches a real-life lesson to believe in your dreams and to never give up on yourself.
“If you want it, you gotta get it no matter what it is,” Quanstar said from his home base in Atlanta. “You have to get up every day and be committed to it.” He said one reason he made the film is to help younger artists just starting out. “They don’t understand that it’s hard…it’s a business. I wanted the movie to talk about the day-to-day struggles.”
The film also clearly shows how much the genre of hip-hop music is an unabashed expression of life. Just as a graphic artist picks up a paintbrush to share their view of the world around them, so does Quanstar but with a microphone. The lyrics he writes are said to bring hip-hop back to where it used to be during its golden age in the early 1990s, that being music by the people and for the people rather than so much “bling and booty” content that is heard today, according to the Compton-born artist.
Quanstar has already released four albums, not including the 12 song CD soundtrack that accompanies “Do It!” His book “Water From Turnips: The Book,” about his life of perseverance starting from childhood, was released this past September and he is about to start recording an album to go with it. His second book, “A Rapper’s Words: The Graphic Novel,” is due out in early 2009. He is also working on a third novel, “Message From a Single Dad,” which will be a compilation of essays written by single fathers to help counter the unfair stereotypes about black men’s lack of involvement in their children’s lives.
Active in the non-profit Hip Hop Congress, Quanstar said this organization is an excellent resource. “If you ever want to make a difference and get around positive people in hip-hop no matter what you want to do, go to http://www.hiphopcongress.com,” he said.
Quanstar said he is looking forward to the day when he can sit back, watch his film and smile about the way things used to be, perhaps even with a sense of melancholy for those crazy times. “I can’t wait to look back at this and laugh at it,” he said. But in the meantime, “Where I am right now, even though it’s hard and trying, I’m grateful where I am because it makes for a better story and I can help myself and more people the way I’m doing it now.”
Learn more about Quanstar, download his music and writings and order his CDs at http://www.ftent.weebly.com. Also check out http://www.myspace.com/Quanstar.
Film by hip-hop icon Quanstar teaches valuable life lessons
By Matt Nagle
Tacoma Weekly
mnagle@tacomaweekly.com
THAT’S A RAP. Quanstar’s live shows feature tracks from the five CDs he has released along with new material he’s constantly writing.
Janale Harris, a.k.a. Quanstar, is a man of many talents, and he is working his tail off trying to get others to realize it too. An underground hip-hop artist, emcee, author, publicist, promoter, booking agent, the father of a little boy with a second one on the way, and working two jobs, Quanstar could easily be called the hardest working man in hip-hop. One thing is for sure: Quanstar’s life proves that trying to make a name for oneself in the world of entertainment is indeed a hard knock life.
Despite the big load that is on his shoulders, Quanstar strives to keep his spirits high with good friends and a caring family, who appear in the film, to support his dream of “making it” whether that is in the lights of a concert hall marquee or in the eyes of his sons. He is determined to go the extra mile in all of his endeavors, and he has produced a documentary that shows exactly that. On Nov. 24, his film “Do It! A Documentary” will be shown at University of Puget Sound’s Rausch Auditorium at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Directed by Anthony Neal, “Do It!” is a real-life account of Quanstar’s life over the course of six months as he works to balance all the things that are going on in his life with his desire for personal achievement. It is gritty, not glamorous, and refreshingly honest. Whether he is in the studio laying down tracks, on the phone trying to line up sponsors for his annual “The Bring Your ‘A’ Game Tour,” almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere trying to get to his next gig, or relaxing at home celebrating his son Janale Jr.’s birthday, the camera is there recording it all and the results are fascinating and at times heartwarming. Seeing this film, you may easily find yourself caught up in his journey to the point that you are rooting for the guy to succeed. Above all, it teaches a real-life lesson to believe in your dreams and to never give up on yourself.
“If you want it, you gotta get it no matter what it is,” Quanstar said from his home base in Atlanta. “You have to get up every day and be committed to it.” He said one reason he made the film is to help younger artists just starting out. “They don’t understand that it’s hard…it’s a business. I wanted the movie to talk about the day-to-day struggles.”
The film also clearly shows how much the genre of hip-hop music is an unabashed expression of life. Just as a graphic artist picks up a paintbrush to share their view of the world around them, so does Quanstar but with a microphone. The lyrics he writes are said to bring hip-hop back to where it used to be during its golden age in the early 1990s, that being music by the people and for the people rather than so much “bling and booty” content that is heard today, according to the Compton-born artist.
Quanstar has already released four albums, not including the 12 song CD soundtrack that accompanies “Do It!” His book “Water From Turnips: The Book,” about his life of perseverance starting from childhood, was released this past September and he is about to start recording an album to go with it. His second book, “A Rapper’s Words: The Graphic Novel,” is due out in early 2009. He is also working on a third novel, “Message From a Single Dad,” which will be a compilation of essays written by single fathers to help counter the unfair stereotypes about black men’s lack of involvement in their children’s lives.
Active in the non-profit Hip Hop Congress, Quanstar said this organization is an excellent resource. “If you ever want to make a difference and get around positive people in hip-hop no matter what you want to do, go to http://www.hiphopcongress.com,” he said.
Quanstar said he is looking forward to the day when he can sit back, watch his film and smile about the way things used to be, perhaps even with a sense of melancholy for those crazy times. “I can’t wait to look back at this and laugh at it,” he said. But in the meantime, “Where I am right now, even though it’s hard and trying, I’m grateful where I am because it makes for a better story and I can help myself and more people the way I’m doing it now.”
Learn more about Quanstar, download his music and writings and order his CDs at http://www.ftent.weebly.com. Also check out http://www.myspace.com/Quanstar.
ISU Bengal 10/2008
The Idaho State University Bengal
Do It: The Quanstar Chronicles
Stoler, Jesse
Issue date: 10/22/08 Section: Life
The documentary Do It will screen at Idaho State University on Wednesday, Oct. 29, and
Thursday, Oct. 30. The film chronicles six months in the life of Janale Harris, aka Quanstar, who is
a well-known rapper in the underground scene. Quanstar serves as a producer on the film, as
well.
"I wanted to make a movie that was real to life," Quanstar said, "not some garbage about some
superstar, I wanted to connect with people."
If Quanstar's intention was indeed for the film to be brutally honest, his goals were met. Most of
the 85 minute film are interviews with Quanstar, in which he rants about his two jobs. "People
think that because I've had some success as a rapper that I must have it made," Quanstar said.
"Truth is there are some months that can I barely pay my rent." In the film, we watch Quanstar
cope while he sees the first leg of his upcoming tour fall apart, due to a major sponsor falling out.
Even when he finally gets on tour, the film depicts his troubles getting from point A to point B.
The final scene of the film is the most telling. The camera is jammed into Quanstar's face as he
walks to work. He is laying it all out about what he feels about his most recent tour. He is
distraught and on the verge of tears, but at the end of his rant, he comes to the conclusion, "If it
wasn't for music, I'd probably kill myself." At which point, the words "Do it" appear on the screen.
Not "do it" in the ominous way. As depressing as the film can be, the film is ultimately a
celebration of hip-hop culture and hip-hop music. "It really keeps me going," Quanstar said. "It
gives me a purpose." The film observes underground rappers spitting rhymes to nearly nonexistent
audiences in some cases. But they do it because they love the music so much, that's all
that matters.
Quanstar clearly has a love for the game. "When I'm not working, I spend a lot of my day on the
internet trying to find new acts," Quanstar said. "I'm addicted to it." Quanstar was raised in a
house where music was played all day, but he was the only one that could play an instrument (the
violin). But it was at the age of seven when he knew hip-hop was his thing. "That's when I heard
Radio by LL Cool J for the first time," Quanstar said. "I said to myself 'this is rap.'" After that, it was
Public Enemy. "I grew up in Compton in the 80's," Quanstar said. "Police would seriously beat you
for no reason. But Chuck D kept me out of the streets, and he made me look at rap in a different
way." Public Enemy's influence on Quanstar is undeniable, due to some of the political content of
some of his songs.
Do It was shot on a budget of $1,500, which wouldn't even cover the catering costs for one day on
the set of Transformers. "We only used two cameras," Quanstar said. "We did all of the shooting
ourselves." The director who helped Quanstar out was Anthony Neal, a co-worker of Quanstar's at
Starbucks. "I'd been wanting to make a movie about my experiences for a while," Quanstar said.
"Anthony had been looking to make a movie too, it worked perfectly." The film is representative of
the youtube generation: low-budget, shaky photography but personal and meaningful. "I'm really
proud of how the film turned out," Quanstar said. "The response has been great." Quanstar plans
to continue working in the film arena; he plans on starting up a video blog next year, which at
some point will film his trip to Africa. "I don't mind being on camera so much," Quanstar said. "I'm
pretty comfortable with it." Although Quanstar keeps an easy-going persona on screen, that did
require some editing. "There were a couple of things we shot that made me look horrible,"
Quanstar said. "It didn't take me too long to cut those parts out."
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2008/10/22/Life/Do.It.The.Quanst
ar.Chronicles-3498350.shtml
Do It: The Quanstar Chronicles
Stoler, Jesse
Issue date: 10/22/08 Section: Life
The documentary Do It will screen at Idaho State University on Wednesday, Oct. 29, and
Thursday, Oct. 30. The film chronicles six months in the life of Janale Harris, aka Quanstar, who is
a well-known rapper in the underground scene. Quanstar serves as a producer on the film, as
well.
"I wanted to make a movie that was real to life," Quanstar said, "not some garbage about some
superstar, I wanted to connect with people."
If Quanstar's intention was indeed for the film to be brutally honest, his goals were met. Most of
the 85 minute film are interviews with Quanstar, in which he rants about his two jobs. "People
think that because I've had some success as a rapper that I must have it made," Quanstar said.
"Truth is there are some months that can I barely pay my rent." In the film, we watch Quanstar
cope while he sees the first leg of his upcoming tour fall apart, due to a major sponsor falling out.
Even when he finally gets on tour, the film depicts his troubles getting from point A to point B.
The final scene of the film is the most telling. The camera is jammed into Quanstar's face as he
walks to work. He is laying it all out about what he feels about his most recent tour. He is
distraught and on the verge of tears, but at the end of his rant, he comes to the conclusion, "If it
wasn't for music, I'd probably kill myself." At which point, the words "Do it" appear on the screen.
Not "do it" in the ominous way. As depressing as the film can be, the film is ultimately a
celebration of hip-hop culture and hip-hop music. "It really keeps me going," Quanstar said. "It
gives me a purpose." The film observes underground rappers spitting rhymes to nearly nonexistent
audiences in some cases. But they do it because they love the music so much, that's all
that matters.
Quanstar clearly has a love for the game. "When I'm not working, I spend a lot of my day on the
internet trying to find new acts," Quanstar said. "I'm addicted to it." Quanstar was raised in a
house where music was played all day, but he was the only one that could play an instrument (the
violin). But it was at the age of seven when he knew hip-hop was his thing. "That's when I heard
Radio by LL Cool J for the first time," Quanstar said. "I said to myself 'this is rap.'" After that, it was
Public Enemy. "I grew up in Compton in the 80's," Quanstar said. "Police would seriously beat you
for no reason. But Chuck D kept me out of the streets, and he made me look at rap in a different
way." Public Enemy's influence on Quanstar is undeniable, due to some of the political content of
some of his songs.
Do It was shot on a budget of $1,500, which wouldn't even cover the catering costs for one day on
the set of Transformers. "We only used two cameras," Quanstar said. "We did all of the shooting
ourselves." The director who helped Quanstar out was Anthony Neal, a co-worker of Quanstar's at
Starbucks. "I'd been wanting to make a movie about my experiences for a while," Quanstar said.
"Anthony had been looking to make a movie too, it worked perfectly." The film is representative of
the youtube generation: low-budget, shaky photography but personal and meaningful. "I'm really
proud of how the film turned out," Quanstar said. "The response has been great." Quanstar plans
to continue working in the film arena; he plans on starting up a video blog next year, which at
some point will film his trip to Africa. "I don't mind being on camera so much," Quanstar said. "I'm
pretty comfortable with it." Although Quanstar keeps an easy-going persona on screen, that did
require some editing. "There were a couple of things we shot that made me look horrible,"
Quanstar said. "It didn't take me too long to cut those parts out."
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2008/10/22/Life/Do.It.The.Quanst
ar.Chronicles-3498350.shtml
Southeast Performer 8/2008
The Southeast Performer, July issue
Do It! Documents a Hustler’s Struggle
By Charley Lee; photos by Wendy Englehardt
Atlanta indie rapper Janale Harris, better known as Quanstar, knows exactly how to get his hustle on. And if there’s anyone who knows what struggle is all about, it would be him. Quanstar began his rap career as most rappers do, freestyling in front of mirrors and writing lyrics. He soon delved into the underground rapbattling scene and in 2001 he hooked up with Evaready RAW to start First Team Music. The band dropped two mildly successful albums but couldn’t breakthrough. Since the inception of First Team, Quanstar has been on the grind developing his style and becoming a shameless self-promoter. He has released five albums, booked six national tours, and is holding down two jobs. Not to mention this has all been done amidst housing foreclosure and Quanstar’s duties as a father.
“After 10 years of progression as an artist, regression as a student and unhappily functioning in society, working places that I hate for people that I despise,†says Quanstar, “I decided to step in the game.â€
The process of trying to break through and become a recognized artist has been well-documented on Quanstar’s latest project, Do It!: A Documentary. The project chronicles six months in which Quanstar and crew devote all their time and energy to promoting, touring, recording and trying by any means possible to get the word out.
“Anthony Neal [the film’s co-producer] and I worked for Starbuck’s at the time,†recalls Quanstar. “I knew he had a production company, and he knew I rhymed and toured all of the time. One day I pitched the idea to him, and we started recording the next week. We did the whole film on a $1500 budget. The funniest thing about the movie is that 60 percent of the camera work was done by me. I carried that camera everywhere for six months. I think we had over 100 hours of footage between the both us, and Anthony went through all of that himself to cut it down to the best three hours. Then I came through, and we chopped it up some more until the finished project was ready.â€
Borrowing a little from old school hip-hop and politically conscious rappers such as dead prez and Common, Quanstar’s message isn’t necessarily politically motivated. Quanstar is more so on a mission to change the rap game rather than the world. Quanstar along with his friends from the Hip Hop Congress (HHC), is putting out a message to evolve hip-hop culture by inspiring social action and creativity within the community through local music events.
“When people want more, they’ll get more,†explains Quanstar. “The entertainment industry is the only 100 percent consumer controlled industry in this country. If people want these companies and stations to change, they have to speak a language that they understand: money. Buy shit that you want mainstream to reflect. Don’t listen to or watch stations that promote music that is unacceptable to your standards. Stop going to clubs that play a lot of the music you don’t like, and stop buying music from artists that send messages you don’t approve of.â€
The low-budget documentary features songs from the soundtrack that it’s paired with. Jazz singer Chanel Mosley adds a little flavor to the song “Drunken Man’s Prayer,†and Lena Moon provides the beats for the track “Back in the Day.†A lot of the music on the DVD is from concert gigs and improv shows from on the road.
Do It!: A Documentary takes a pointed look at what it really takes to make it in such a fickle industry. Do It! is in no way a feel-good story. At many times, it looks as though Quanstar should just call it quits — especially when his tour is cancelled due to lack of sponsors — but it’s that drive and determination that make him an underdog worth rooting for. One gets to see the ugly side of everything in this DVD, from troubles with personal and professional finances, to the sometimes futile process of promoting and the struggle to maintain a regular life amongst the chaos. It’s a realistic view of the music industry and what it takes to keep one’s artistic integrity. The DVD which is available online at Quanstar’s MySpace and CD Baby, as well as at Criminal Records and other local music spots, features appearances and performances from Evaready RAW, Metrognome, Akil (Jurassic 5), D.R.E.S. tha Beatnik, Cypher Linguistics, Ricky Raw, Bboy Fidget, Lotus Tribe, Lady Maverick and several other up-and-coming artists. Quanstar hopes that with the release of the DVD, more avenues of opportunity will open up for him.
“We live in a multimedia society,†he says. “No one wants to buy just CDs anymore. So it’s the job of the artist and the company marketing the artist to find their new angle to fans and adapt. Do It! is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re going to film two more documentaries within the next year.â€
But this is only the beginning for the 32-year-old father of one. Quanstar will also be playing The Vans Warped Tour on July 9 in Atlanta. The MC and his cohorts also have plans to go on the sixth installment of the “Bring Your ‘A’ Game Tour†in September, which will end up being part of the filming for the next documentary. Quanstar will also be coming out with a book, Water from Turnips, a graphic novel by Visual Poetry, and interestingly enough, a cooking show.
“My book will be out in October,†he says. “My cooking show will be in preproduction soon, which will be the launch of my cookbook. An investor or two with a real idea of what we do and how we do it will come along so we won’t have to do this out of our pockets.†There will also be a one-night-only screening for Do It!: A Documentary at the Midtown Arts Cinemas in Atlanta on August 7.
www.myspace.com/quanstar
Do It! Documents a Hustler’s Struggle
By Charley Lee; photos by Wendy Englehardt
Atlanta indie rapper Janale Harris, better known as Quanstar, knows exactly how to get his hustle on. And if there’s anyone who knows what struggle is all about, it would be him. Quanstar began his rap career as most rappers do, freestyling in front of mirrors and writing lyrics. He soon delved into the underground rapbattling scene and in 2001 he hooked up with Evaready RAW to start First Team Music. The band dropped two mildly successful albums but couldn’t breakthrough. Since the inception of First Team, Quanstar has been on the grind developing his style and becoming a shameless self-promoter. He has released five albums, booked six national tours, and is holding down two jobs. Not to mention this has all been done amidst housing foreclosure and Quanstar’s duties as a father.
“After 10 years of progression as an artist, regression as a student and unhappily functioning in society, working places that I hate for people that I despise,†says Quanstar, “I decided to step in the game.â€
The process of trying to break through and become a recognized artist has been well-documented on Quanstar’s latest project, Do It!: A Documentary. The project chronicles six months in which Quanstar and crew devote all their time and energy to promoting, touring, recording and trying by any means possible to get the word out.
“Anthony Neal [the film’s co-producer] and I worked for Starbuck’s at the time,†recalls Quanstar. “I knew he had a production company, and he knew I rhymed and toured all of the time. One day I pitched the idea to him, and we started recording the next week. We did the whole film on a $1500 budget. The funniest thing about the movie is that 60 percent of the camera work was done by me. I carried that camera everywhere for six months. I think we had over 100 hours of footage between the both us, and Anthony went through all of that himself to cut it down to the best three hours. Then I came through, and we chopped it up some more until the finished project was ready.â€
Borrowing a little from old school hip-hop and politically conscious rappers such as dead prez and Common, Quanstar’s message isn’t necessarily politically motivated. Quanstar is more so on a mission to change the rap game rather than the world. Quanstar along with his friends from the Hip Hop Congress (HHC), is putting out a message to evolve hip-hop culture by inspiring social action and creativity within the community through local music events.
“When people want more, they’ll get more,†explains Quanstar. “The entertainment industry is the only 100 percent consumer controlled industry in this country. If people want these companies and stations to change, they have to speak a language that they understand: money. Buy shit that you want mainstream to reflect. Don’t listen to or watch stations that promote music that is unacceptable to your standards. Stop going to clubs that play a lot of the music you don’t like, and stop buying music from artists that send messages you don’t approve of.â€
The low-budget documentary features songs from the soundtrack that it’s paired with. Jazz singer Chanel Mosley adds a little flavor to the song “Drunken Man’s Prayer,†and Lena Moon provides the beats for the track “Back in the Day.†A lot of the music on the DVD is from concert gigs and improv shows from on the road.
Do It!: A Documentary takes a pointed look at what it really takes to make it in such a fickle industry. Do It! is in no way a feel-good story. At many times, it looks as though Quanstar should just call it quits — especially when his tour is cancelled due to lack of sponsors — but it’s that drive and determination that make him an underdog worth rooting for. One gets to see the ugly side of everything in this DVD, from troubles with personal and professional finances, to the sometimes futile process of promoting and the struggle to maintain a regular life amongst the chaos. It’s a realistic view of the music industry and what it takes to keep one’s artistic integrity. The DVD which is available online at Quanstar’s MySpace and CD Baby, as well as at Criminal Records and other local music spots, features appearances and performances from Evaready RAW, Metrognome, Akil (Jurassic 5), D.R.E.S. tha Beatnik, Cypher Linguistics, Ricky Raw, Bboy Fidget, Lotus Tribe, Lady Maverick and several other up-and-coming artists. Quanstar hopes that with the release of the DVD, more avenues of opportunity will open up for him.
“We live in a multimedia society,†he says. “No one wants to buy just CDs anymore. So it’s the job of the artist and the company marketing the artist to find their new angle to fans and adapt. Do It! is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re going to film two more documentaries within the next year.â€
But this is only the beginning for the 32-year-old father of one. Quanstar will also be playing The Vans Warped Tour on July 9 in Atlanta. The MC and his cohorts also have plans to go on the sixth installment of the “Bring Your ‘A’ Game Tour†in September, which will end up being part of the filming for the next documentary. Quanstar will also be coming out with a book, Water from Turnips, a graphic novel by Visual Poetry, and interestingly enough, a cooking show.
“My book will be out in October,†he says. “My cooking show will be in preproduction soon, which will be the launch of my cookbook. An investor or two with a real idea of what we do and how we do it will come along so we won’t have to do this out of our pockets.†There will also be a one-night-only screening for Do It!: A Documentary at the Midtown Arts Cinemas in Atlanta on August 7.
www.myspace.com/quanstar
SL Weekly 5/08
Salt Lake City Weekly Music Picks May 1-7 | Live: The Swell Season, Do It!, Northern State, Elbow, Harptallica
By Jamie Gadette
Posted 05/01/2008
DO IT! A DOCUMENTARY
Anyone out there recognize Quanstar? The Compton-born emcee dedicated his life to hip-hop—that, and raising his son as a single dad—but he’s still hardly a household name. Sadly, his story is all too familiar: promising artist works overtime to “make it,” only to realize the secret to success is a trick question. In Do It! A Documentary, Quanstar offers viewers a nice reality check without veering into doomsday territory. Nitty-gritty footage follows the artist recording in a basement practice space and cramped studio, on tour, in hotel rooms with family and friends. The film itself could benefit from some serious editing, but the shaky camera work and muffled testimonies are endearing—especially to other artists trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents. Uprok, 342 S. State, 8 p.m. Info: 363-1523
http://www.slweekly.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=a030787e-14d1-13a2-9feb90884cc385aa
By Jamie Gadette
Posted 05/01/2008
DO IT! A DOCUMENTARY
Anyone out there recognize Quanstar? The Compton-born emcee dedicated his life to hip-hop—that, and raising his son as a single dad—but he’s still hardly a household name. Sadly, his story is all too familiar: promising artist works overtime to “make it,” only to realize the secret to success is a trick question. In Do It! A Documentary, Quanstar offers viewers a nice reality check without veering into doomsday territory. Nitty-gritty footage follows the artist recording in a basement practice space and cramped studio, on tour, in hotel rooms with family and friends. The film itself could benefit from some serious editing, but the shaky camera work and muffled testimonies are endearing—especially to other artists trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents. Uprok, 342 S. State, 8 p.m. Info: 363-1523
http://www.slweekly.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=a030787e-14d1-13a2-9feb90884cc385aa
Daily Lobo 4/28/08
/24/08 The Daily Lobo www.dailylobo.com
The real side of the music business
Marcella Ortega
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Culture
For Janale Harris, the music business is not all fun and games.
"You turn on MTV, you turn on BET and you see all these shows," he said. "It's no disrespect to any of these shows, because there's a market for it, and that's what happens. But you have a whole generation of aspiring artists that come up and think that that's the business, and it's not the business. The business is sometimes you got to sleep two hours a day. Sometimes, you're going to sleep on somebody's floor. Sometimes, you're going to wake up, and you're going to hustle."
Harris, who's known as the hip-hop artist Quanstar, will release "Do It!: A Documentary" on Friday. The film will be played at The Stove on Saturday as part of the Hip-Hop Film Festival presented by New Mexico Hip-Hop Congress.
The documentary follows Harris for six months. Throughout the film, he works two jobs, records the soundtrack to the documentary and goes on his annual "Bring Your 'A' Game Tour."
"It's really like an honest-to-God look at my life," he said. "It deals a lot with me having two jobs. It talks about me being a father. There is a huge segment on me and my son, and it happens around his birthday, and my family flies out. We interview my mother, my sister and my son's mother. It has us going on tour."
Harris said the documentary doesn't just capture the good part of the six months.
"There's no glamour to it," he said. "There are things that go wrong. My house got foreclosed during this movie. So, this is the real deal."
Harris said he had to learn different approaches to making money in the music business.
"I've been in the game professionally since 2001," he said. "But all my life, people at school or something like that. I'd walk around with, like, $50 and battle somebody for 50. That's how I'd pay rent a long time ago."
Harris said making a documentary along with an album gives the audience a visual effect.
"They get to see even more in-depth what we talk about our experience is," he said. "It gives them a more personal effect of who Quanstar is. Quanstar is a real dude. Quanstar is a person that wakes up and has to go through the things that everyone else does and sometimes doesn't get as much out of it as someone might in their everyday job. But I get up. I work. I come home just like everybody else."
Harris he would like to make more documentaries like "Do It!"
"We live in a multimedia society, and I think it's a natural progression for all media to go towards mixed media," he said. "Pretty much every album that I drop from now on will be paired with a documentary."
The real side of the music business
Marcella Ortega
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Culture
For Janale Harris, the music business is not all fun and games.
"You turn on MTV, you turn on BET and you see all these shows," he said. "It's no disrespect to any of these shows, because there's a market for it, and that's what happens. But you have a whole generation of aspiring artists that come up and think that that's the business, and it's not the business. The business is sometimes you got to sleep two hours a day. Sometimes, you're going to sleep on somebody's floor. Sometimes, you're going to wake up, and you're going to hustle."
Harris, who's known as the hip-hop artist Quanstar, will release "Do It!: A Documentary" on Friday. The film will be played at The Stove on Saturday as part of the Hip-Hop Film Festival presented by New Mexico Hip-Hop Congress.
The documentary follows Harris for six months. Throughout the film, he works two jobs, records the soundtrack to the documentary and goes on his annual "Bring Your 'A' Game Tour."
"It's really like an honest-to-God look at my life," he said. "It deals a lot with me having two jobs. It talks about me being a father. There is a huge segment on me and my son, and it happens around his birthday, and my family flies out. We interview my mother, my sister and my son's mother. It has us going on tour."
Harris said the documentary doesn't just capture the good part of the six months.
"There's no glamour to it," he said. "There are things that go wrong. My house got foreclosed during this movie. So, this is the real deal."
Harris said he had to learn different approaches to making money in the music business.
"I've been in the game professionally since 2001," he said. "But all my life, people at school or something like that. I'd walk around with, like, $50 and battle somebody for 50. That's how I'd pay rent a long time ago."
Harris said making a documentary along with an album gives the audience a visual effect.
"They get to see even more in-depth what we talk about our experience is," he said. "It gives them a more personal effect of who Quanstar is. Quanstar is a real dude. Quanstar is a person that wakes up and has to go through the things that everyone else does and sometimes doesn't get as much out of it as someone might in their everyday job. But I get up. I work. I come home just like everybody else."
Harris he would like to make more documentaries like "Do It!"
"We live in a multimedia society, and I think it's a natural progression for all media to go towards mixed media," he said. "Pretty much every album that I drop from now on will be paired with a documentary."
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