the spotlight on quest is now archived. please hit the sidebar to get a hold of that page.

and don’t forget, broken headphones is in stores july 28th.

sylvan lacu, more commonly known as QuESt, is an up and comer straight outta the heart of miami. after releasing a handful of acclaimed mixtapes (see: distant travels into soul theory, where’s my rhymebook?, etc), he’s gearing up for the release of his most ambitious and anticipated album to date, broken headphones. he’s released a couple of songs as teasers already and promises a classic.

weworemasks got the chance to interview the 18-year-old rapper and he discussed everything from building his career in the shadows of the miami heavyweights to blog-rappers and of course, broken headphones.

after the interview, be sure to grab all of the mixtapes and songs you need to be caught up with the QuESt movement.

—————————————————————-

Roshan Bhatt, weworemasks.com: To start off, I actually wanted to know why you spell your name out that way stylistically. Sorry if that’s a stupid question.

Sylvan Lacu aka QuESt: [Laughs] Nah, it’s not stupid. There’s no real specific reason. I was just fucking around in school and I just spelled my name and it just stood out, so I ran with it. It’s completely random, and there’s no in depth meaning to it, honestly.

WWM: Word, well that’s cleared up. What’s the status on Broken Headphones? How far along are you with the recording process?

QuESt: Broken Headphones — I can’t really give out too much information, but I will say that I’m taking my time with this one. I’m definitely trying to make this classic because this is supposed to be my career center here. I feel like every artist has that certain project that defines their career where they started to take off. So all I will say is Broken Headphones, July 28th. I’m taking my time with it and definitely prepping the classic.

WWM: Are you working with any record labels with this release?

QuESt: No, I’m not working with any labels with this project. It’s basically me and my team. It’s really just bringing this together and getting it out to you all and hopefully it will be received the way we hope it’s received. It’s gonna be a free album and there are no labels involved with it at all.

WWM: Oh word, so it’s gonna be a free release? I didn’t know that.

QuESt: Oh it will most definitely be.

WWM: Well your first single, “Losing My Mind” dropped recently and I’m diggin’ it a lot. How has the rest of the response been so far with it?

QuESt: Aw man, it’s been a lot bigger than I expected. A lot more people are diggin’ it than I thought would. It’s a dope record, but compared to all the other work I have coming up, I’d say it’s sub-par. If everyone’s loving that, then I’m really excited with what’s coming out. People are really responding and fans are liking it, so that’s what I wanted.

WWM: What was it like coming up in Miami, especially with the wave of artists hittin’ it big within the last few years?

QuESt: Ha, I feel you. You have different scenes with Miami. You have the real commercial stuff like you know — Ross, Trick Daddy and DJ Khaled, that’s family always, you know? They’re always doin’ their thing. But we do have a real underground scene with nothing but straight emcees. [We] are very underrated with our emcee quality and there are a lot of great artists out here. As far as me growing up here, I’m not gonna act like it’s easy, because it was incredibly hard. But I’m slowly finding my place and it’s growing. It’s all been a growing process. It’s cool, but not necessarily the best position.

WWM: While we’re on the topic of Miami, is there anyone out there that we should be listening to that we probably haven’t heard about? Who do you personally admire?

QuESt: Definitely P.ersonal. He’s a great artist and he’s doing his thing out here. And I’d leave it at that. He’s just someone I’d look out for people who aren’t really known out here. He’s coming out with his project real soon, so look out for that. He’ll be out soon.

WWM: In relation to coming up with the scene in Miami, how do you think you’re faring with the new generation of the blog-rap scene, with your Wales and Charles Hamiltons and what not?

QuESt: I mean it depends. The internet has been good to everybody. In terms of the miami scene, it’s not based on the internet. Its based on where you want to be. It’s not like if you’re on Nah Right or 2dopeboyz, then you’re a star. Miami isn’t really like that. Me being on blogs is pretty random because I’ve only been on em’ since December of last year, so only 4 or 5 months. I’m really blessed to have the success [from the blogs], though.

WWM: Especially now, you have got to embrace that because I mean, a lot of people just read blogs now. You gotta capitalize on it.

QuESt: Oh for real. Like the new Asher Roth, it was pushed so hard, but just on the internet. 75-80% of it’s support was on the internet. Even the label underestimated it and I think he might sell 100,000 copies in the first week from what I heard. [ed note: he did not, but he did do 67k, which is still pretty impressive.] It brings to light all the emcees and artists to light because of what the corporate side of hip-hop shows you. Now, you can go on the internet and you have a huge variety of music and no one is singled out.

WWM: How do you plan to stand out in the blog generation?

QuESt: I feel like I stand out by making really great music. In the blogging world, there’s a lot of “you’re-not-really-there” artists, you know what i’m saying? I feel like a lot of people are slacking with the quality of music and how they are really portraying themselves. I feel like I need to come into this world and give my all into music, and a lot of artists aren’t doing that. A lot of people aren’t making great, beautiful and genuine music, and for free on that matter, you know? With the case of Broken Headphones, I feel like you HAVE to get this album. I’m gonna be providing such a beautiful record and it’s for free. I’m pouring all of my heart into this music and then giving it away for free. I’m not putting a price on it, which is different from a lot of blog rappers who are just freestyling and don’t really know what they want to do.

WWM: Let’s touch base on your past mixtape, Distant Travels Into Soul Theory. What was the main inspiration behind it? Was it based on true events?

QuESt: It was derived from an idea from my barber, actually. He was playin’ around and said I should go on some 70s records. It started out being focused around a guy who is growing up in Midwest Chicago and all of his endeavors, but when I was chopping up these old records [during the recording process] it was obvious that the soul era was based off of really great love songs, so the idea of it changed to a love story and I began building the concept around who I was as a person. It’s very loosely based on my own experiences. A lot of things haven’t happened to me, but there’s a lot of it that I can relate to. Not to mention, it was perceived a lot better than I thought it would be too.

WWM: Yeah, man. Me and Jerome bumped that shit nonstop for a while now. So we definitely wanted to touch base on it. Did you grow up listening to a lot of soul music or was that a new idea?

QuESt: Well I just grew up around a lot of music in general. All the records that I used, most of them I’ve heard all the time. Just being a hip-hop head and hearing things like Reasonable Doubt and Illmatic and going back to the old Tribe records, it felt inevitable. I loved the original records so it all came together nicely.

WWM: What are your plans after you release Broken Headphones? Do you want to play shows or tour or anything like that?

QuESt: It’s a possibility. I have some things in mind. As of right now, I don’t really know my plans. It all depends on how the album is received, so my next move will be dependent on that. I don’t want to say something and not be able to follow up with that. I’ll have that answer as soon as Broken Headphones drops, though, most definitely.

WWM: What are you currently listening to?

QuESt: Recently, I’ve been bumpin’ [Drake’s] So Far Gone. Been hittin’ that one a lot. Also, TreaZon’s new mixtape, 9 Steps. That’s getting played a lot. And Nero’s Alive and Vibrant. I’ve also gone back to Below the Heavens a lot lately too.

WWM: Can’t go wrong with any of those at all. That’s all I got for now. You wanna add anything else to the readers of weworemasks?

QuESt: Just…Broken Headphones. July 28th. July 28th. July 28th. Write it on your calendars. Tell a friend, and your friend’s friend who could’ve known someone when you were a child. It’s gonna be good. It’ll be presented by illRoots, HipHopDX and 2dopeboyz.com. All together, you know? The music will speak for itself. Download it.

—————————————————————-

catch up to QuESt:

download:

quest – losing my mind

quest – she’s wrong

both songs will be on his upcoming album, broken headphones, due out july 28th.

distant travels into soul theory (mixtape – direct link – right click, save as)

the reinforce ments (mixtape)

where’s my rhymebook? (mixtape)

quest on the web:

quest on myspace.

quest’s blog.

get into it. thanks for reading.

-grizzly