Talent: Disc Jockey, On-Air Personality
Mix Tape: Southern Fried Gumbo Series
DJ Crew: Core DJs
Contact:  www.deejayquest.com
                www.myspace.com/deejayquest

DJ Quest, known to many as "BIG HAITI or THE HAITIAN SENSATION," has built a reputation in the music industry, as one of the most energetic and diverse DJ's to ever touch a set of turntables. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Quest has been influenced by many of the Hip-Hop greats who have also originated there. The NYC flava is reflected in the music that he plays today. As a Florida resident, Quest's repertoire has grown to include southern stylistic influences of the "Dirty South" to create a turntable mixing that stands on its own. Quests radio career took off when he joined WDME 91.7 (Orlando) along with "G" of the Street Dwellers. Quest later went on to hosting his own show on WPRK 91.5 (Orlando) called "THE HIP-HOP LOCK DOWN." It featured local DJ's and new music that was not heard on commercial stations. In 2001 Quest made a bold career move by relocating to SW Florida from Central Florida where he became the newest member of the 105.5 The Beat WBTT family. He helped bring the stations night show numbers to its highest ratings ever, and still rising. Since 2001, Quests turntable takeover has garnered him media exposure and features such as: Lee Pitts Live TV show feature, noted as a Florida Power in Ozone magazine, Network 41 magazine feature, R&R magazine, Gazette Haitian feature, noted as one of Central Florida's hottest dj's, 2003 "DIRTY SOUTH DJ OF THE YEAR" nominee and, winning Floridas ..1 MIXSHOW DJ honors.

Where are you originally from?

Brooklyn, New York.

How did you end up in the Fort Myers area?

Back in like 1990 my parents move down to Port Charlotte, Florida and I went to high school there.  I left there and went to Orlando for like 7 or 8 years.  I tried to get into radio in Orlando but it didn’t work.  If you weren’t DJ Prostyle or DJ Nasty or Jimmy Jamz you weren’t getting on the air back then. 

Why do you think that?

Prostyle and Nasty had a lock on everything.  They're still doin their thing, and killin it.  Back then you couldn’t get into radio. You couldn’t do nothing if your name was Prostyle or Nasty.  I’m not knocking them, that’s respect.  I did the underground radio out there and I was like, its time to take it to the next level so I came to the radio station down here (Fort Myers), 105.5 the Beat.  I tried to pave my own little way. 

When did you start DJing and who influenced you to start Djing?

Back in the day, my brother and his friends had a group.  They use to do their thing out here.  I use to be in the background carrying records and shit.  That’s how I basically started.  From that I use to do my own little tapes cause I played football, ran track. When I use to go to the games, I made my own little shit to listen to.  So I started making my own little mix tapes just for me.  Niggas was like, “yo, make me a copy of that”.  I just took on the whole DJ shit from there. 

I read in a recent publication that you use to listen to Red Alert on the radio and you wanted to be just like him. Is that true?

That’s where the radio comes in.  When I was in New York and you listen to Red Alert, its like he shuts everything down.  He use to do the “yeahh”.  Back then Red Alert was the muthafuckn shit.  Wasn’t no Funk Master Flex or any body on the radio right now.  Red Alert was the fuckn man.  I use to be like damn I wanna be on the radio just like him.  That’s where the whole radio thing comes in. 

Where can people catch you spinning?

I do a couple of clubs out here (Fort Myers) from time to time.  You can catch me at Fusion in Naples occasionally. You can catch me at Emerald City every first Monday.  Right now most of my time is spent on the radio.  I’m on the air everyday at 7:00 Monday through Friday and sometimes you can catch me hosting and not mixing.  Just on the air talking shit. 

What qualities do you think makes a DJ a DJ?

The DJ gotta know exactly what the crowd wants to hear.  You can’t just play what you feel like playing.  You gotta be able to rock the crowd, you gotta be able to adjust to your crowd.  You gotta be able to mix.  Like they say, a DJ is a street A&R so you gotta have a good ear for music at the same time.  I’ve seen a lot of DJs just play records and just whatever the fuck they feel like.  

What if it’s a record that you’re feeling that a local artist did and the crowd just isn’t feeling the record, how do you go about that?

That’s where you come in as a DJ. If the crowd is just not feeling it and they're looking at you like “what the fuck is he playing”, then don’t fuck with the record.  If the crowd is looking like, “its not a record that I know”, its wack but I can still dance to it, then force feed it to them depending on the record if you really believe in the record.  A DJ knows a wack record from a good record. For me, I’m not gonna play a record that I personally think is wack just to force feed it to you.  If I think the record has a little potential, then I’ll try it out.  Of course it doesn’t take one try.  You gotta play it a couple of times for them to get use to it.  You can tell if they just don’t wanna hear it. 

When you opened up for Magic Mike and screwed up, what was it that you did and what did he tell you?

(laughing). Where did you get that? (laughing).  I was in Orlando and we did a teen night.  It was me, Magic Mike, and DJ Ekin and I opened up for Mike.  It was back in the day when I really didn’t read the crowd but I was still a good mixer.  I forgot what I was playing but I think it was an up tempo set and I put a little bit of booty in it.  There is a set that I usually play that’s in old school set and I played Michael Jackson.  Magic Mike looked at me like I was the craziest muthafucka on this planet.  It’s a teen fucking party and I’m playing Michael Jackson.  He said "ni**a these little kids don’t know shit about Michael Jackson so what the hell are you thinking".  From that day on, I learned to read the crowd and know exactly what crowd I'm playing for.  You gotta bunch of thirteen year olds that don’t know shit about Michael but I was playing what I thought was hot.  You do some dumb shit as a DJ but it takes a season vet like Mike to tell you, yo what are you thinking?

Every DJ wants to be on Rap City, do you think that after you were on there that more people became more familiar with who you are and what you're doing?

I think so, but not as much people watch Rap City as they use to.  I think more people took a notice of what the fuck I was doing instead of saying "that’s Quest".  Now its like that ni**a Quest.  A lot of people just know you from looking at your website or maybe they got the mix tape but they don’t get to experience your personality.  When I was on Rap City people were like damn this nigga has a personality cause a lot of time I’m on mix and I barely talk.  Ni**as don’t know that, that ni**a (Quest) is a funny muthafucka.  But I think me getting on Rap City let ni**as know that I had personality.  Its a lot of DJ that have no personality.  They do hot mix tapes and they mix hot but once they get on TV or Rap City they look like fucking clowns.  They're stiff.  Rap City help people know what the fuck is going on. 

What Florida artist do you think will have the biggest finish to the year?

I’ve heard some records from Plies that’s gonna shut shit down.  That’s a ni**a that I think that’s gonna break out of Florida and you'll be like, oh shit what the fuck happened.  He is from this area and he is bigger outside this area.  That’s a ni**a that’s gonna break.  You got BloodRaw but I still haven’t heard nothing from Blood that’s single worthy.  J Shin is hot.  I think J Shin got some joints that’s gonna cause some problems.  You gotta ni**a name C-Ride that’s out of Cool & Dre’s camp.  That’s another ni**a that’s gonna be a problem.  Of course now Smilez and Southstar, they’re independent and with the right music they could be a problem. 

What is your relationship with Wyclef?

Wyclef, that’s my ni**a.  That ni**a looked out for me big time when we did the Best Of Wyclef project.  He looked out for me, cause a lot of artist won’t look out for you and host the whole mix tape.  Matter fact, I hit him up to host another DJ and he wanted to charge him for that.  At the point where Wyclef is at in his career he don’t need to be doing shit like that.  That’s a ni**a that worked on Michael Jackson’s album.  I reached out to him and he was like I’m gonna be in Miami this weekend; come down and we’ll knock it out and true indeed that ni**a did. 

Do you still keep in contact with him?

Yea I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago.  He is in the lab working on shit.  He has been going back and forth to Haiti.  He told me before that he was trying to open up a club in Miami so I’m like what’s up with the club you’re trying to open up.  He was like he can’t open up a club in Miami when he is looking back at Haiti and he is seeing that there is people there with nothing.  He would rather take that money and go help his people instead of opening up a club. I was like I’m not mad at’cha. 

Do you produce?

Oh yeah.  But the way I do it, I don’t put my beats out yet.  I’m trying to keep all of my shit for myself.  I do beats here and there like Plies has some of my beats right now that he is gonna record over.  People that I fuck with real close, I’ll give them a beat. 

Anything else?

I got Southern Fried Gumbo number four about to drop.  Not sure who is gonna be on it.  I did a mix tape with Bubba Sparkxx.  I have a mix tape that I did with 334 Mob.  I’m working on Triggastate and that’s gonna be on Southern Fried Gumbo.  There two other joints that I’m working that’s not gonna be mix tapes, they’re gonna be more like album joints.  One is gonna be locally and the other maybe national but we haven't decided.