QueESt under the Life Cypha spotlight

I’ll be honest… we haven’t been following this artist for several years; it was more like several hours. As stated in the posting of his newest mixtape, How Thoughtful, we caught wind of this artist him via twitter.  I personally became an instant fan after hearing him spit the following:

…my life’s a movie the director is God/the script is written by the Christ and I’m the actor who caused/the set to be confusing/only difference is its not concluding…
- QuESt – Elevator Status -

…since then my iPod has been on repeat all, and his mixtape has been posted and heavily promoted via Life Cypha and other blog sites.

So who is this artist??? His name is QuESt. Born in Miami, his interest in music began at the tender age of seven. At that time he got off to a great start in hip hop culture, noting that his first taste was with the one and only Roots Crew and their hit single “Baby You Got Me” ft. Eve and Erykah Badu. Since then QuESt has become quite the lyrical genius himself and his work has gained recognition throughout the World Wide Web being featured on popular hip hop websites such as 2DopeBoyz, HipHopDX and other notable organizations. About QuESt, hip hop blogger, K1ng Eljay (www.k1ngeljay.com), said, “I’ve honestly never heard a rapper mix punchlines, similies, and metaphors and personalize it to the point that by the end of the song, you feel as if you’ve learned something about him.”

One of his previous mixtapes, Distant Travels Into Soul Theory (presented by 2DopeBoyz & Illroots), was a critically acclaimed hit among the hip hop blogosphere, and scanned over 25,000 downloads in less than a month’s time. On in, QuESt wrote over an array of 1970’s soul cuts, and chronicled a relationship gone sour from start to finish. Another more recent project “Broken Headphones” (presented by Illroots, 2dopeboyz, & HipHopDX) was considered one of the hottest mixtapes last summer as it garnered a generous 50,000 downloads. This youngster has created quite the buzz and if I can do anything to make it bigger, I will. Look out for the Miami rookie as he will soon be the topic of all discussion when it comes to hip hop music.

I got a chance to do a quick, online interview with QuESt. See the transcription below:

LC: What up, QuESt? Thank you for doing this quick interview with us. We’re a new organization so I’m sure your team hesitated before moving forward… 
QuESt:  No doubt fam.

LC: Let’s get into the interview; can you give me a brief summary of a day in the life of QuESt. Are you a part 9 to 5 dude/part artist, student/artist, or a certified grinder like most emcees? 
QuESt: I’m a little of everything: part time student; part time worker; full time artist.
LC: Wow, so you’re really getting it in… That’s what’s up…

LC: It’s weird, I’m usually good at keeping my ears open when it comes to good underground/indie music, but I haven’t heard of you before. Just how big do you believe the Quest buzz is?  
QuESt: I honestly have NO IDEA!!! (Laughs). I underestimate my buzz greatly, for no good reason. I think it’s because I always feel like I could be doing a lot more than what I am doing now. But yea man, I have no idea to this day how big my buzz is.
LC: It was big enough to make it to L.A. That’s for sure…

LC: Talk to us about your music. What message do you hope to convey through your lyrics?  
QuESt: Truth, passion, heart. I’m a fond believer of speaking from my heart. I just want people to be able to have some kind of music to listen to when they’re going through a certain situation. I’m not afraid to say what’s on my mind, and what I feel from my heart.

LC: Your newest mixtape brings some serious heat. With mixtapes now being used as demos, what do you hope to accomplish with the “How Thoughtful mixtape???”  
QuESt: I did “How Thoughtful” to just let people know I can rap. Wasn’t much; I did it in like a week or so. Just put some great bars together, and threw it out there. It was also to serve as a teaser for my bigger project “The Reason: A De4fense Mechanism”.

LC: Ok, “The Reason: A De4fense Mechanism.” Can you explain the title? Also, what could we expect to hear on this project?
QuESt: …well the title started with just “The Reason.” I thought of the idea when I began working on another project called “Fear Not Failure,” which never came to light; it will next year for sure. When I was drafting “Fear Not Failure, I was leaving out a big portion of my life I wanted to tell, so I let it go and started thinking about the explanation to my new found mindset, and so came “The Reason.”  I evaluated the title and the project’s meaning some more and added “A Defense Mechanism”. The project basically is like a summary and/or explanation for my previous mindset… Things I thought I needed to accomplish that never came to light, It’s somewhat of a lead off from “Broken Headphones,” but not in the sense where I tell what happened after it, it’s more like I tell you why I was a certain way and why I am the way I am today. And the MAIN reason for it was because of my Defense Mechanism. What was my defense mechanism… that’s the question that you will have the answer when the project comes out. But in a nutshell, it’s very enlightening, and I have a different mindset going into this project than I did during my last project, “Broken Headphones.” It’s less sorrow and more “Yea, I was sad and pissed off, but this is the reason why.” The project signifies a different mindset, a way of life for me personally. Then I could move on with “Fear Not Failure,” which I won’t get into. I’m pretty sure I messed your head up already (laughs)…
LC: (laugh) Kind’a

LC: One thing I don’t usually here from today’s emcees I heard in track two on your mixtape. I hear you shoutin’ out God and Jesus in some of your bars. Where do you stand when it comes to your religious beliefs? 
QuESt: My life’s a movie the director is god. You can’t achieve anything in this world without God. There are way too many obstacles, loop holes, and demons in this world to not put your trust in God when going after whatever it is you wanna to go after in this world. I’m just very aware of my relationship with God.
LC: I agree… I agree… that’s what’s up, man.

LC: I’m not sure if you read any of the blogs on the site, and if you did, then you know how I feel about the current state of hip hop. Give me a summary on the current state of hip hop through the eyes of Quest.  
QuESt:  Hip-Hop is in a weird state. Not bad…not good…just weird. I will tell you one thing though; Hip-Hop needs to grow up immediately.
LC: Hmm… “Hip hop needs to grow up”… I might jack that quote (chuckle)…
 
LC: So in your opinion, why do you think hip hop is being excused of being dead, dying, or demonic? 
QuESt: Cause there’s too much judgment in Hip-Hop. It’s a rebel culture; the urban Rock & Roll. Hip-Hop is judgmental from all angles, inside and out. You have people who don’t know anything about the culture judging it for biased reasons. Then you have Record Labels who’ve been judging and categorizing Hip-Hop since it became a multi-million dollar industry. Then you have the fans judging hip hop, and different genres of hip hop judging one another. It’s just a whole lot of judging for no reason. We need to grow up. That’s why people feel like hip hop is dead. Cause everyone keeps passing judgments.

LC: What I’m starting to notice as I do these interviews is when this question is asked, the artist responds from personal opinions, but they speak with so much passion. Why do you believe that is???
QuESt: Well if anyone remotely cares about Hip-Hop as a culture, then they care about all the components that fuel hip hop, not just the music. Like hip hop will NEVER be dead for the simple fact that we’re just too big. Hip hop is EVERYWHERE. Factually hip hop will never die… NEVER… It’s more than just music… That’s just my opinion. But back on topic, if anyone cares about hip hop they speak exactly what they feel because they care about the culture as a whole. I speak passionate about hip hop all the time because I love hip hop. In my opinion our biggest setback is just that we need to grow up. Once that happens, everything else will fall in place.

LC: What do you think about the vision of the Life Cypha movement? If you’re unsure of what that is… in short, we blog to spark dialogue about the hip hop society doesn’t see and we want to know how people feel about the way hip hop is predominately portrayed (on radio and TV).  
QuESt I think it’s a great movement. There’s too many blogs about the same thing, putting out the same criteria. The originality of Life Cypha is bananas.
LC: Thanks a lot… that means a lot coming from an actual artist

LC: Well it’s been a pleasure chopping it up with you, sir; any last words for the Life Cypha viewers?  
QuESt: No problem man and Life Cypha’s the truth! “The Reason: A Defense Mechanism” drops sometime this summer. Don’t hold me to that however (Laughs).
LC: Man, you already put it out there, so you know we’re gon’ to be waiting…

…that’s it for the one on one portion. If you have any additional questions you would like to ask QuESt, ask him using the comment section of this post.

For more info on QuESt visit him at www.yesiamquest.com or follow him on twitter @ www.twitter.com/yesiamquest.
Also, if you haven’t already done so, cop that How Thoughtful Mixtape, by Quest.

LC

Tagged as: God, Hip hop, Is hip hop dead, Life Cypha, Life Cypha Spotlight, Quest, Rap