Exclusive Q & A with J.Quest about his "Son of a City Worker" EP

Photo credit: Val Duran

Questions:

Q1. It's been a while J.Quest but I've been waiting for you to drop your EP and now it's almost that time! What are you feeling now that your about to finally release "Son of a City Worker"?

A: Ayye ! What up Jerica! Maybe it's kinda surreal yanno? Finally having a full project to share, it's been a long time coming for me .. I'm still waiting for the hard copies to come in the mail for me, that's when I get to be like wow what a check point in my hustle... lets breathe & keep on!

Q2. Did you record more tracks and plan to drop an album maybe sometime next year?

A: Well, I had originally started my "Struggles & Dreams " EP that just grew into a monster project with some amazing in house producers but I needed to take some time out & step away from it as it was going on 3 years. I realized performing live that I needed to give the people something while they were waiting so I came up with "Son of a City Worker".

That being said, I have demo versions of "Struggles & Dreams" that I'm gonna tighten up & come with a few new beats & some surprise features to make a full length album to follow up with. But we'll see how long it takes for me to finish my art, I don't like to rush or just put music out for putting it out sake ..I rather feel I put my best into it but yes a full length LP is coming!

Q3. What was the recording and mixing process like when you were staying up many late night?

A: Recording sessions at Hella Beats Studio and then Mixing at Studio 1225 went down for about 3-4 months mostly on Friday/Sat nights, bout 4-8hour sessions from 4pm to 12am. We'd break for dinner bout half way and then get back to it! It was pretty busy just knowing my weekend schedule was booked months on end since I work my day job on Sunday's but it was worth it!

Q4. Why did you choose to title your EP "Son of a City Worker" - dedication to your father?

A: Yeah, my dad is retired from the San Francisco Water Dept plus my uncle & Grandpa work/worked for the Water Dept & I definitely feel that my family has a strong connection to SF due to that .

Q5. While attentively listening to both instrumental and lyrics I can tell you have something for old-school samples through out your EP. What made you want to use those samples ? Either way I love it!!!

A: I grew up loving east coast hip hop, Large professor , Easy Mo Bee , Pete Rock & of course Premier so I just wanted to come with my own SF sound & Posafe even tho he's from St.Louis was just the man to bring my vision to life using a MPC 2xl & vinyl ... plus I knew my mixing engineer Jon Uhland would have the insight to bring my 90's influence to 2016 without sounding dated.

Q6. I can't wait for your fans and everyone in the Bay Area and around the world to hear your EP! You have good old-school samples but you also have great features! How did you get in touch with J.Lately to be on your single "Hapa Boy"?

A: I was blessed with the opportunity to open for Lately awhile back & he's just a real cool dude, I hollered at him & sent over the Hapa boy beat ... he was like "Bruh I already got half my verse written" after he heard the track ! Hella appreciate him getting on this project, we both Hapa Boys so it was only right.

Q7. I definitely want to talk about your hook for "Hapa Boy" - It's hella catchy but whats the message behind the hook and the song?

A: Well originally it was a homage to Masta Ace's "Born to Roll" where he's like "black boy black boy turn that shit down". I just wanted to speak on my personal life as a mixed Asian & Caucasian man and situations I had with the police growing up my whole life . It's like that Trevor Noah line where he's like " you can be a minority or mixed but you can't be white when your actually half white in reality ". And that's hella relevant to me plus I also wanted to touch on how people were viewing women esp WOC esp my Asian sisters.

Q8. You actually surprised me with the second track "Candy Bars/Jackin'4Jeeps" and actually made me go that's a grown folk song haha and made me want to buy some candy from a liquor store in the Bay Area!

A: Ha! Yeah I went a little out of my comfort zone & gave the folks some "bars" & a grown folk situation ...I love that skit that me & Telli Prego & his cuzz Cy did...that laughter is 100 % real! The transition between driving to going into the store to back outside , I don't feel many people are really that creative anymore but we came with it!

Q9. Do you have any plans to film any videos from your EP later this year? Or photo shoots?

A: Yeah I'm hoping to do a video or two ...y'all will have to stay tuned in , don't wanna say too much just yet !

Q10. While you were in the writing process for this EP were there any artists or did anyone influence you to write a "hit" song?

A: Uhh aside from my influence of Masta Ace just to be somewhat conceptual , nah just every day living in The Outbound, here in SF! I will say I draw inspiration from my OutboundSF fam Dave Canal, Telli P, Mo Risk , Big Vic & how they approach their craft & just are master craftsmen with their art. You see the Outbound logo on their projects & it's like damn another classic so I knew I had to come wit it!