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."
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