It’s been almost two years since I first heard about Q. Guyton. I was at a Doughbeezy show and Q approached me after his set and introduced himself. He gave me his album that he was selling and asked me to check it out. Now, it’s interesting how media gets a hold of music. Often, it’s a slew of emails with links to sound cloud and other music websites. It’s honestly rare to find the ideal Scenario. That scenario being, you going to a show and really liking one of the acts. Enough to make you get the album, follow them on social media and full out support them the best way you can. I have made it a habit of just holding on to CDs and having a listening party in my car. If I became a fan of it, the CD stayed in the car and if not, let’s just say it’s quite a few CDs on 288 headed towards Southmore. It was something about how much care he put in the packaging of the CD. It wasn’t your typical cheap flimsy clear slip with a cover and CD in it. No, it had an ill design and the actual packaging was cardboard. It was unique. Then listening to to his Blue Heart album was like “My God! Where have this sound been!?” However, even then, it’s even more rare that they keep you still interested and maintain momentum to keep them succeeding.  Yes, it’s a cold day in hip hop. Mumbling on wax is now a serious thing. So getting music where the artist is articulate and actually jams is a complete breath of fresh air. 

 

Quentin Guyton or better known by just Q. Guyton, has a sound that is refreshingly new and still pays homage to the past. While being able to use his influence from Houston’s classic Hip-Hop, Quentin remains unique and in his own lane. Since most people like to compare artist to something or someone they have heard before, listeners will be glad to know that listening to a Q. Guyton album is like listening to something you have never heard but you’re familiar with. It’s difficult to explain and that’s when you know it’s something special. When you cannot explain exactly what it is but you know its dope. So as I was sitting in my car listing to Blue Heart, an album he had released in 2015 featuring production from producer and friend Ben Wade. The first track So Low imminently caught my attention. It was smooth, melodic and had a certain South Side groove that I grew up on.  I was hooked by the time I got to Diamonds On My Chain which is a track that features Doughbeezy. Knowing me, you know Dough is easily one of my favorite artist. Having Dough on your record can be a gift and a curse because he can easily take over your track and his verse being the only part fans listen to. This was an exception, Q held his own. That combo would get proven to even be more effective on their joint venture Cold Summer. I swore this was the second coming of UGK with a dab of Outkast and something else. That album front to back was damn good. Q even directed and edited a full movie to it! That’s another side of Q. Guyton that’s just as good if not better than his music. ANF Film’s, consisting of himself, Fame and D-Solo have put out numerous of quality videos that you would swear have a massive budget behind them. Just watch Cold Summer if you haven’t yet.

 

 

To understand the artist that Q. Guyton is, you must first understand the man that is Quentin Guyton. An artist, musician, husband, father, son and a visionary. A man that could possibly be a son to a Nigerian King; at least that’s what his biological fathers Facebook says. Quentin’s humble beginnings start in Lubbock Texas where a young songstress, Florence Guyton was residing when she met Emanuel O’tuwa. They gave birth to Quentin in the summer of 1981. Not to long after Q’s birth they would grow apart before Florence would meet the man that would that Quentin reorganizes as his father, Lawrence Taylor. A Stern Creole man with morals that would be instilled in Quentin for the rest of is life. Even to this day as you watch Q with his wife La’Monica and his son, Quentin Guyton Jr. or just Two, you see the man that not only has a vision for himself, but a better vision for his family. A vision that started after he was laid off his computer engineering job at KBR. “It was a forceful moment.” Guyton recalls as he was making his transition from the corporate world to music.

 

“My wife was pregnant; it was super-duper struggle time considering [I was not] able to have a salary anymore. When I got laid off, Two wasn’t born yet so I was going straight in looking for another job. I was thinking “I got to get another job! My wife is pregnant, we need insurance, we need all of that stuff.”  [I was] laid off, a newlywed and had a baby on the way; all types of Peruse, TX. Right when I finally felt like I got enough money to be a young successful black man. I Did the whole college thing then got a good job after struggling 3 years to get a good engineering job which was crucial for me and my family. So, getting laid off while my wife was pregnant was pressure point for me. I was looking to go right back to work but since I was already doing the music thing and it was going pretty good and my wife was pulling for it so I went full throttle in my artistry. I was trying to get on while I was working but I was spending so much time at work I wasn’t able to make enough time to peruse a music career. So I got forced into it, I have saved up a lot of bread plus I had a severance package and I thought to myself conceptually “I’m a real dope artist! They just haven’t heard of me before! Once I put together this stuff I’ve been thinking of with this budget I have they’ll have not doubt in me after I drop this!” Eventually I ran out of bread from the severance package but since then I developed some sort of a new way to get money. During that journey, the Reduction project was so dope to my camp, it was like a no turning back thing.”

Since Q. Guyton’s arrival on the scene, he has released several projects; Runway Music, Reduction, Blue Heart, Black Magic, Cold Summer and his latest, Baby Blue Collar which is gaining Q. Guyton more recognition with its smooth melodic tones and an undeniable wave. A good listen will surely turn any unfamiliar ear into a fan by the end of it. And this is only the beginning for this bright minded individual. With Q. Guyton heavily valid in producing, filming, directing and editing short films and an array of music videos, his grind is sure to keep him busy and moving forward.