"Water From Turnips" review for booksandjunk.tumblr.com

Water for Turnips (the greatest story ever written about the best rapper you’ve never heard of) is a jolting twist into a life I honestly knew nothing about. I know nothing about rap music and the lifestyle that comes with it and this story gave my insight I never knew I could have, or even knew that I was missing. The first half of the book is about him growing up in Compton. And I’ll be the first to admit I was raised in a sheltered suburban home so reading about the kind of crazy that kids as young as he was have dealt with was pretty heart wrenching. Seeing his life through the eyes of a boy growing up that way is intense. Just reading through the dozens of names of his family members got over whelming coming from a 3-person household. His story puts his difficulty with school (he was smart-just didn’t like the actual school work part) and even his borderline sex addiction on display for the world to see. It goes behind the scenes in getting a career in the music business started. There are many moments that make you cringe, some that make you laugh out loud (“I thought being married was about yelling, fighting, have kids, and buying a house” made me laugh for some bitter reasons), and other times that just amaze you. 

The story of his success had many bumps in the road and reading this book was basically watching a boy grow up into a man through many hardships and struggles. 

There’s a lot more to Quanstar than meets the eye, including 10 albums, a documentary, his own blog, and a cooking show he does with his kids. You can find out more about those amazing feats and watch some of his music videos on his website- http://quanstarmusic.com/#

Here’s a video book trailer for Water for Turnips if you would like to see more on it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5HIUNpxiQ8&feature=youtu.be

And if you’d like your own print copy of the book, you can buy it offAmazon here- http://www.amazon.com/Water-From-Turnips-Greatest-Rapper/dp/1438962126/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344582065&sr=8-1&keywords=water+from+turnips

ALBUM REVIEW: Ghani Gautama & Shadow – Live At The Radio Room: WPBR - We Are The Upstate.com

I’m always a little wary about live albums in general. Almost every artist worth their salt (and not worth it) has at least one grandiose live offering, which generally follows a breakout hit album, but that doesn’t mean they should. EPs are more understandable because they serve as fun treats in between recordings or give a snapshot of that period in time for the artist. Underground rappers Ghani Gautama and Shadow from Charlotte execute this perfectly as they just put out a collaborative EP recorded this past February at…The Radio Room?

Yeah, you read that right. A live recording from Greenville’s beloved music dive. Admittedly, I was skeptical coming into this release. I mean, how good could a live recording at the Radio Room be? Don’t get me wrong, We Are The Upstate practically lives at the place. I love it. The shows always look and sound great. And while I know very little about making live recordings, it didn’t seem like the most ideal environment to lay down a live record for release.

Boy, was I wrong. Live At The Radio Room: WBPR sounds fantastic. Sure, it’s not Bullet in a Bible or Live at Leeds level production quality, but everything’s pretty clear, and both artists and their interaction with the crowd can be distinctly heard.

Ghanni Gautama and Shadow both prove their abilities as live emcees, flowing effortlessly over the surprisingly audible beats. I say ‘surprisingly’ because I can’t get over how solid the recording sounds. You can tell the rappers felt completely in their element and were simply just having a great time performing, and because that comes through within these seven tracks, the EP succeeds.

If you enjoy some fun, well executed underground hip hop, use Live at The Radio Room: WBPR as a great sampler for these two rappers’ catalogue. Fans of either shouldn’t miss out on this record as it shows a real sense of community within the small, local hip hop scene that I hope continues to grow.

Quanstar 4/11 reviewed by Patrick Taylor

When Radiohead released "In Rainbows" as a pay-what-you-want download in 2007, people lauded it as the future of the record industry. Who needs labels when artists can reach the fans directly, and Radiohead's success seemed like proof that this was a viable business model. What people forgot was that Radiohead are one of the world's most popular bands, and the reason for their popularity has at least something to do with the close to two decades of major label support for the band. Ask the struggling indie artist with an album on iTunes how many copies they've sold, and they'll tell you that it isn't so easy when you don't have years of a major label's advertising budget behind you. The other thing the indie artist will tell you is that doing it yourself is a hell of a lot of work. Quanstar, who has been releasing his own material and booking his own shows for a few years now, loves the freedom of being an indie artist, but acknowledges that it takes a lot of hustle to get yourself heard.

His new pay-what-you-want EP "4/11" might make less of an impact on the market than "In Rainbows" did, but it's not for lack of trying. The Compton MC has put out several albums, mixtapes, live recordings, and a documentary, all by himself. This site was impressed by last year's "The Underdog" and Quanstar doesn't disappoint with this follow up.

He starts off by personifying cocaine on "Yayo," showing the destruction the drug has caused:

"Most of my soldiers were dead or in jail
Fighting for my attention to get them out of this hell
Prisoners in their own homes
Cities turned into war zones
Women sell their babies so with me they'll be alone, man
Fuck the community let me get what's due
And you'll be good for a little while 'til I'm through with you too"

"Groove With You" starts with Quanstar rapping "Let me dispel a few myths/Most rappers you meet ain't really got shit." He goes on to describe the grind of being an indie rapper, but keeps it on the positive rather than complaining. After all, if he didn't like what he was doing, he wouldn't spend so much time doing it.

"Come Back To Us" is a cautionary tale about success. Quanstar describes a rapper being ruined by a shitty label deal and the party lifestyle, a football player being ruined by steriods, and a whiz kid stockbroker being ruined by the allure of wealth. "Don't fly too fast/you might run out of gas hit the earth with a crash" raps Quanstar, sounding like the wise older brother. It's a role he takes on for much of the album. His flow is steady and unhurried, and his rhymes offer lessons about making it in the industry and admissions of his own shortcomings as a husband.

Quanstar has grown man beats to go with his grown man rhymes. Most of the songs sample 80s quiet storm R&B. Anita Baker even gets a feature on "What's Wrong." That may sound cheesy, but the tracks are flipped just enough to make them work, and the result is the perfect sound for cruising. Quanstar mixes it up on a few tracks, getting screwed and chopped on "Sure You Want It," and coming harder on "Underground Rap Star" featuring Tea Bag Da Herbalist (good rapper, terrible name).

"4/11" is a solid collection of grownup rap. While its low-key vibe and quiet storm samples don't make for the most dynamic music, it's worth a trip to Quanstar Music to give it a listen. If you like what you hear, give the man a few dollars for the download: he works hard enough for it.

Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10

Originally posted: April 19th, 2011
source: www.RapReviews.com

Quanstar: The Underdog: as reviewd by Steve "Flash" Juon

"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

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."

"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/

"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.

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.