"Water From Turnips" Interview w/ Quanstar - June 5, 2012

By now, you all should be familiar with Quanstar. He's a friend of Straight Outta Hip Hop and in addition to an interview or two, we've also supported projects he's dropped over the past year and a half. He was also featured on the Commercial From Commercialmixtape that Hip Hop Hope Dealers and I collaborated on. After a few minutes talking about graduation (congrats to my brother who just graduated from Morehouse!) I got to ask Quanstar a few questions about his new book, Water From Turnips, and what purpose this served for him as well as his fans:


S.O. Hip Hop: The book is now out. I've had a chance to dig through it and read a bit of it, but before we get into the details of the book, what was it that made you decide to put the book out now? You mentioned almost procrastinating to put it out, so what made you finally pull the trigger?Quanstar: Just because it was done. It's honestly been written since January. We had to do a few more re-reads. We've done about eleven to twelve re-reads and once all that was done, it was time. It wasn't so much a constant procrastination as much as it was just getting it right. The original form of the book was probably only about half of what the book is now because I glossed over so many things. But then there was a blessing in disguise when my computer crashed and I lost all a form of the [original] book, it forced me to rethink how I was writing it. 

And that pretty much ties into the first chapter in the book when you describe a dream you had that eventually set you on the path you're on now in terms of musical endeavors and entrepreneurial pursuits. Essentially, just like you're computer crashing, this dream wasn't a coincidence. So, in regards to that dream, and I don't want to give too much away, but do you have any more like it that tell you what you're supposed to be aiming for next?Yeah. That particular vision was a culmination of a bunch of different dreams. I didn't want to write one chapter on twenty dreams, so I had a dream about a tunnel. I've had a dream about something else. I've had a dream about being in a tunnel. I've had a dream about certain women representing different things. I've had a dream about walking towards a light and just keep walking. So, I always have dreams and visions and certain thought processes because I'm always trying to think about the next step ahead. So, I think the dreams I have are basically a continuation of my thought process from when I'm awake. I don't want to say it's this grand vision or anything that deep, but it's just my thought process and the dreams are an extension of my daily "work, work, work" mindset.

In addition to all the hustles you have going on and this constant grind mind-state you have, you also talk about your relationship with your wife and the ups and downs you all have gone through. This chapter would probably be interesting for any career driven person, but especially men, who are chasing a dream, but trying to maintain a healthy relationship. What can people going through that get out of the book and what have you learned in dealing with that situation?I think the biggest thing is that if you're going to meet someone and pursue someone, you need to do it with someone that also has things going on. When we met, she had an E-Bay business, her own business, while still working a full-time job, just like I did. And she was making like two to three grand a week being an E-Bay seller. So, the fact that she had her own thing going on, and it was something she created herself, she understood the difference between working for yourself and just working for somebody else. When you work for yourself, the responsibility and worries and everything you have are exponentially more, when it's yours to build up or lose. I think the key to that is to find a woman that already has something else going on. So, those nights, when you're up all night, or you might have to be on the road for a week, or whatever, it's not so much of an issue. You still have to make time [for your family]. We make time at least once a week to do something. I have three kids, so you have to make time where it's just us. But the key is to a) find someone that already has something going on and can understand your focus, and b) - and this is important - the thing she's doing is separate from what you're doing. Two people in the music industry is a disaster waiting to happen. At some point, it's a conflict of interest. I would never date another artist. 

I think that's sound advice and I think it's good that people see you can have success and it doesn't have to be at the expense of your family because a lot of people get caught up in their ambitions and, unfortunately, their family almost gets lost in the shuffle.I mean, you have to prioritize. There's certain things I won't do. I don't go on the road for two, three months at a time because I have children. I'm not even going to be on the road for a month at a time because I have children. That's just my perspective and those are the things I've realized and understand there are sacrifices you have to make. But those sacrifices start with your system and that support comes from the people around you both understanding your hustle and accepting your hustle. And if they've never experienced that hustle themselves, they can't accept it.

Now I'm going to backtrack here a little bit and get back to some details of the book. I know a lot of people, especially artists, they have a co-author or they simply tell somebody their story that ends up writing it, but I have feeling you wrote this whole thing yourself.This is all me, homie. It's all me.

How long did it take you to write it?About four years. The original version took about a year, but when the computer crashed, I decided to re-write it. So, I spent another three years or so on [the published one], sent it to the publisher, and now we're here. The reason the final version took so long is because I wanted to take my time, be specific, and have points. I went through most of my life validating this, validating that, I was a sexual deviant. I talked about when I was in college what I was doing and how I couldn't see. My whole thought process, I had nothing going on, so the only way I could feel like a man was for me to womanize and womanize heavily. But I didn't really explain it in the first version, so in this final version, I traced that aspect of my life back to its origin, so people could see where it came from and how it grew. So, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to take my time. I didn't want to inflate it. I didn't want to brag about it. I just wanted to record it, like it was. 

That sexual deviant chapter in the book is a crazy one. I think people might be caught off guard with that one. But, even in revealing all this, in the beginning of the book when you explain why you wrote the book, you say you didn't want this to be an autobiography. You do say, though, that it was important for you to unveil many parts of your life. Now that the book is finished, what do you hope people do get from this?I didn't want it to be an autobiography in any way. I had all of these ideas about how to write this book, but at the end of the day, it ended up being an autobiography because out of all those other ideas, this told the story the best. I want people to understand that it doesn't matter where you're born, or how many chances you get in life. To be frank, I f*cked off half of my life. I didn't even start thinking about get things together until I was 23. I want people to understand it's never too late. It's never too late to do the right thing, to want to be something better than what you are. It's also a matter of explaining...basically, I ain't sh*t. You know what I'm saying. I ain't sh*t. We're just all the same. I don't have money behind me, I don't have things like that. And my story, I wanted people to see, this is where I came from, this is what I did, and I'm still hustling. I basically floated through high school, flunked out of college. I did all of the things that are supposed to make you fail. If you grow up in the hood, you're supposed to fail. I'm from Compton, I'm supposed to fail. I didn't graduate with A's, I'm supposed to fail. I dropped out of college, I'm supposed to fail. I'm 23 and didn't have any money, I'm supposed to fail. I had a kid out of wedlock, I'm supposed to fail. But I didn't, and I'm not. After finishing the book, and looking at it right now, because I'm holding it in my hand, looking at the cover, that's what I want people to know. You're not supposed to fail. You're only supposed to fail, when you give up. 

I think that's always been your message. Even with The Underdog and all your music, that's always been what you've portrayed. Regardless of what the circumstances are, you've come out of it and found another way. But, now that you've put your story out there, and people will have a chance to read it and understand you better, how does it feel? I'd assume it's hard to get everything out in the form of music, but it seems like you did a lot more with this book.It feels pretty good. I wouldn't say that I got it all out there. There's a ton of things I condensed or left out because I didn't want to give twenty stories conveying the same message. But, it feels great because a lot of those stories, I never shared with anybody. I'm not the most open of people. There may be things I don't tell my wife. It might not be anything big, but I just don't talk about my childhood. There's probably four or five things in there I've never really discussed with folks. So, in a way, that was pretty therapeutic for me. It surprised a lot of people. There were things in the book that my mom never knew. My wife and her mom and other people read and were shocked. And let me say that all of the things that have happened is a testament to me, but also to my family and how I was raised. I have a really close knit, crazy, but big family that always stuck together and looked out for each other. So, I just want to take this time to say that my success or my drive as a person comes from my family. It comes from a lot of the sacrifices my family made in order for me to achieve. To get out of the hood and step my game up. A lot of this is because of my family structure, albeit sort of unorthodox. I was living in a house with four women, but they kept me on the up-and-up as an adult. Sometimes, the only thing that motivates me is the sacrifices my family has made. When I want to give up and can't figure stuff out, I think about my momma and my granny and my auntie and my wife and my kids. It makes me step my game up. 

Since you were able to write all of this down and actually see it on paper in the form of a book, have you seen any difference in your approach to how you write music? Are you more open in your music since you know these stories are out there now?It hasn't a great deal, but it has allowed me to venture off into other areas of my music and do other things with music. Now I have all these things to discuss and deal with and talk about. I wasn't ever really compelled to write about certain things before. I'm still not compelled to, but since I know that these stories are out there, I'm not as hesitant to talk about them in my music. Also, since it's out there, those stories aren't quite as close to my heart. It allows me to be a little bit more celebratory. That kinda started with The Underdog because I was starting to get that stuff out. I had the freedom to write with a free heart and that felt good. 

Well, I know people will definitely enjoy reading the book. I looking forward to getting even further into it than I already have. For most of your fans, it should lend to even more understanding of your music, but if nothing else, it's just a compelling story. Tell everybody where they can get it.It's pretty much everywhere. Barnes & Noble and barnesandnoble.com, Amazon.com, Google Books, Scribd.com, Quanstarmusic.com. It's in a bunch of places. Feel free to leave a comment. On Amazon there's been a bunch of reader reviews and it's been getting a bunch of four and five stars, tell me what you think.

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.
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