In all major sports leagues there's an award for the comeback player of the year. If there was such an award in hip-hop San Quinn would be at the head of the list of nominees. After taking three years off, 2011 has seen the San Francisco native release not one, but two full length albums - Can't Take the Ghetto Out a Nigga, which was released on July 19th, and A Hustler's Hope, which hit stores on October 25th. Even though he's back on his grind releasing new music, Quinn says the break he took was a good one as it gave him time to "analyze the game." This week RapReviews caught up with San Quinn to find out what he learned during his time off, what he hopes to accomplish for the Bay Area, and why he says he "wasn't overwhelmed" when he met 2Pac. San Quinn also revealed the video game he is supremely confident he can kick your ass in.
Adam Bernard: After taking three years off, what brought about the want to release new music now? San Quinn: I understand what's going on with music now a little bit better. With the recession hitting, and Obama coming into office, a couple things changed more than even before. People weren't selling as much music, and also, it's like YouTube and all that other shit now. It really came on strong with the creation of the 7D Cannon and some of the cameras making it where people can just shoot a video off their iPhone and post it, so everybody basically became equal as far as the promotion shit if you weren't spending no real money. Before we would have more action getting on the radio, getting at MTV, and that was the look. Now a lot of radio stations are looking for how many hits you have, how many YouTube views you have, how much (web) traffic you have, and kinda judging people's skills off of that.
AB: As someone who's been around since the pre-internet days, was it hard to adapt to so much of the music world going digital?
SQ: It was fast. It kind of caught me off guard. Some people already knew about it where I was at, like JT the Bigga Figga and a couple other people. I'm still catching up. I kinda know what to do now. Now it's about marketing and getting hits up and shit. So yes, it happened fast, it was overwhelming, I went through a little rap beef and shit and when you're in shit like that you can keep putting records out but then people don't want to hear one side of that shit, whether I'm wrong or right. I got past that and now I'm reestablishing myself as not only a rapper, but I'm ready to do business and step into the next level in the game where I start getting us real money out here and I start putting artists on, being behind the scenes but still being a part of it, doing my P. Diddy thing, getting us more established to where we makin money and where the Bay Area is on a major scale and I got my hands in the pot. I want to make money like L.A. Reid and them. They started off singing. Jimmy Iovine was even in a group, a rock band. He made the transition over the amount of years to where he's probably a billionaire off of fuckin with music and it's not off of him singing, but that's what got him the connections.
AB: You are a legend in the Bay Area hip-hop scene. Over the years do you feel hip-hop scenes around the country have begun to find more success outside their areas, or have these hip-hop scenes become even more insular, creating more and more local celebrities, but fewer national ones?
SQ: It builds up local heroes. It would be nice if 50 Cent came and gave me some money cuz I really am a G out here. He could put me in the G-Unit and it would increase what he did right now because of my status out here, like Eminem did (for) him. Even though 50 had his deal and his buzz was up, Eminem reached back and made 50 Cent's microphone even bigger. I want to get enough money to where I don't have to just be worried about the Bay Area. Once I get $200 or $300 million and I've made 9-20 people around me millionaires, then I'm doing a hell of a job. Then I can reach out and fuck with other people. Right now I fuck with this side of America, where I know niggas ain't on, and once we eatin in the Bay Area, and once we eatin on this side of America, I can think about crossing over, or even going to Mexico or South America.
AB: The new album is A Hustler's Hope, with Tuf Luv. Other than to make a dollar, what is a hustler's hope?
SQ: With this rap music shit, the stuff that I'm talking about is very possible, not only for me, but for others to achieve. People grow up watching football and end up really playing football because they've seen somebody else doing it. A hustler's hope is seeing another hustler being successful from it and copying, or mimicking, them in a good way. Knowing that you can do it, knowing that it is possible, is a hustler's hope.
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