Headliner: Quan
Independent Album: Walking Testimony
Songs We Can't Stop Playing: "Just Believe," "Getting Money" (featuring Nas), "G Call" and "Mommaz Prayer" (featuring Zoe)
Essential Info: Quan, it's been too long. Five years ago, the VA native made an appearance on Nas' Street's Disciple
on the thought-provoking "Just a Moment." The guy was spitting hard
lyrics and had harmonious singing in his repertoire as well (this was
way before the likes of a Kid Cudi or Drake). Esco was billing him as
hip-hop's "future" in every interview, and later, Quan inked a deal
through Nas' record company, Ill Will, and Atlantic Records. But things
didn't quite pan out as he had expected.
Quan went through management problems that eventually led to
his parting ways with Nas, and he could not see eye to eye with
Atlantic. Quan eventually asked for and received his release. Since
then, he's been circulating on the underground scene while dealing with
severe family issues.
"Just to wake up is a blessing," Quan said of his album title, Walking Testimony.
"Some people are like, 'What happened?' For a minute, I actually had
mad deaths in my family. My goddaughter died. Zoe's daughter. He's a
talented artist. [Hip-Hop Editor's Note: The "Zoe" Quan is referring
to is an up-and-coming singer from VA, not to be confused with Atlanta
rapper Gorilla Zoe.] She was 12. Right before that, my grandmother
died. After that, my little cousin died. My biological father got
thrown out of a five-story window in the Bronx; he almost died. He was
in the hospital for almost two months. In the process of him healing,
my cousin Boogie died in a car accident. It kinda rocked me. Then two
of my friends died; they got killed. I was like, 'Damn.' "
Quan said he sat back to reflect on life but was still working
on music. He's released a handful of mixtapes over the past three
years.
"You really have to love it," he said of the industry. "If it
doesn't happen for you [quick], you really have to love it. The
industry and the politics behind it will really put a strain on your
passion for it. Either you gonna move it or lose it. Keep on grinding
or fall by the wayside. The blessing is to just have music the people
wanna hear and feed that. Whether it's 100 people, 5,000, 20,000 — to
have as many people as I do come up to me and say, 'Your music helped
me through hard times,' I appreciated it. 'I admire what you are saying
and what you're trying to do.' What greater gift can you ask for?"
Quan's album was released recently through Amalgam Digital and
iTunes, and he's currently in talks with some labels about future
projects.
"I'm still a free agent. Amalgam gave me an opportunity to
share my music with the world," he explained. "It's a blessing.
Obviously, me and a whole lot of other people [expected] my career to
go major. But it don't always work like that the first time going
around. 50 went through it. Jay went through it. I feel it's my season,
and however God wants it to go, it'll go. In the meantime, I released
five mixtapes, the last one being digital: Carry the Tradition.
All my mixtapes did real well. For a while, going through different
negotiations with different labels, I was so set on going major. In the
meantime, I tried to provide my fans with as much music as possible. I
didn't want to become a 'mixtape rapper.' I tried to provide my fans
with quality over quantity."