Quan is best known to mainstream music fans for his standout performance on “Just a Moment,” from Nas’ 2004 epic, “Street’’s Disciple.” The hit single and video catapulted the Virginia native from underground obscurity to one of the rap game’s most promising young emcees. Since “Moment..” Quan’s thuggish blend of rap, R&B and conscience hip hop has been heard on countless mixtapes and album cuts (including another show stealing performance on Cassidy’s I’m a Hustla LP). 
 

      I sat down with Quan to discuss his views on the current state of hip hop, his relationship with Nas, his latest mixtape/DVD and when his long awaited mainstream debut will finally see the light of day. However, we spent the bulk of our time speaking on other issues. No, not who he’s beefing with, not how much money he has and there wasn’t even a single mention of a bulls**t clothing line (Thank God!). Our conversation took a surprisingly more political turn. Normally, as a rule of thumb, I HATE when rappers babble off subject in interviews. Quan is different. The Bad News Bully waxed poetic on topics like Hip Hop is Dead, gang violence and the now infamous Stop Snitching campaign.

      Any interviewer will find it virtually impossible to talk to Quan without asking about Nas. This will result in general, yet reassuring statements like “We still trill.” or “That man opened the door for me to get in the game, how could I not be cool with him?“

      Speaking of Nas, he is also the man that single handedly set off a tidal wave through Hip Hop last year with one simple phrase, “Hip Hop is dead.” When questioned about his feelings on that statement, Quan disagrees with, but defends his mentor:

Niggas aren’t saying Hip Hop is dead because of these dances and shit. When I was coming up, everyone was doing the Wop and the Wild Wild West. But at the same time, there was BDP [Boogie Down Productions] and  NWA and Fight The Power. Both sides were being promoted, there was much more of a balance on the radio. The kids now are not getting that truth and balance. Rap is, in a lot of ways, a CNN for the ghetto. It acts as information to kids who don’t have parents or solid role models around, shit like that. They say it takes a nation to raise a child, so we gotta step up a little more to have a balance. Is hip hop dead? Naw, but I understand why the big homie said it.

      Quan’s latest mixtape is titled Most Anticipated. “I know the streets know who the most anticipated is, I know the hood knows, I’m not sure if the corporate side of the game knows. But to anybody that doesn’t know, that DVD is going to show them.” The musical side of Quan’s street releases have never disappointed. But, this summer has seen some of his strongest material yet. In particular, a remix to Kanye West’s stadium anthem ““Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” entitled “Can’t Tell You Nothing.”

      On “Can’t Tell You Nothing,” Quan calls out fake-thug rappers and gang bangers alike who are banging just for sake of banging. He explained to us:

      A lot of these rap niggas, they talk it, but they aren’t around that shit for real. No one is running up on their tour buses with choppers and [AK-47s]. I came up in the thick of that. I know about sleeping with one hand on the pillow and one hand on the pistol.

      It becomes an issue for me when you look on a magazine or video and see your favorite rapper who was never into that shit, and now they are promoting it. I have little cousins that I constantly have to yoke up for trying to follow that nonsense. I’m looking at them like: “Get on the school bus, stop running around the streets. I can’t let them grow up like me and their fathers.” I really see the effect that this shit has. Look at these little niggas’ Myspace pages, they are throwing up gang signs and all that.

      Understand this, I have close friends who are deep into gang banging. But these are real Bloods and Crips that I know. Tookie Williams and all of these guys didn’t start these groups to help blacks kill other blacks. Black American gangs were created to protect our communities from those white boys that where trying to take us out in the 1970s. It was about unity and brotherhood. Niggas are not promoting that part of the game. If you rep your flag or your set, DO IT! But have a purpose. Don’t have these little niggas out here killing for nothing. It’s not cool.

      Don't get it confused, if there was ever a rapper with street cred, Quan is that rapper. His storied past is chocked full of the kind of experiences that Juelz Santana loses sleep trying to fabricate. But, as Quan will tell you, there's nothing soft about taking responsibility for your hood. “These rappers aren’t around to hear the gunshots. They don’t hear that boy's momma crying: “Quan, they shot my baby”.” 
 

      This idea, that people could help damage communities full of people that look just like them opened a new can of worms: Stop Snitching, Cam’Ron’s 60 Minutes embarrassment and REAL definition of snitching. Here is an excerpt from our conversation addressing these issues: 
 
 

      So, are there still real street emcees who understand the morals and ethics behind the hustle? I guess so. Hip Hop is not dead and Nas’ very own protégé may be just the man to prove it.