Ain’t No Stopping Don Q

Let’s hop right into this latest single / video “Slander” — Tell me about this particular track; how did it come to fruition?

“I just wanted to talk a little bit about me going away to Atlanta, and how people in my city felt about me leaving. The video concept was something raw that I created myself. I wanted to get back to the New York street music, and let everybody know that I’m back outside.”

Of course “Slander” comes courtesy of your latest project, Double Or Nothing — Conceptually, what does that title represent both to and for you?

“Double Or Nothing means that you’re putting your all into it. It’s like a metaphor for gambling. You lose one hand and you double up — double or nothing. It’s putting my all into it. You gotta take chances, you gotta take the risk and take that gamble.”

How then does Double Or Nothing either differ and / or compare to that of your previous bodies of work?

“I feel like you can hear the growth in how I rap and put shit together. I’m still me — you can still hear me talking my shit. I feel like you could just tell that I grew and I got better. Don Season 2 was more fun than Double Or Nothing. The music was more bouncy and turned up, but it’s less gritty. Double Or Nothing is more gritty. This is probably one of my most grittiest tapes, aside from Don Season.”

Reflecting, tell me your whole inception into music — When did you first become interested in it? And, how did it all begin for Don Q?

“When I was younger, all the influences we had in New York — Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, Fabolous, Roc-A-Fella, Dipset, G-Unit. We had a lot of influences, so I feel like every kid in that era had a dream or like tried to write a rap or something like that. You might didn’t take it serious or might not be too confident in it, but we all tried to do it. And there’s only a few of us that really just kept going and just made it a thing. I was 16 writing battle raps. I feel like once people started telling me that they liked certain shit I was doing, I just kept going. That’s really what it took. Like, I probably never even did it if people wasn’t telling me to.”

Now you’re a native of The Bronx, correct? So growing up in ‘The Boogie Down,’ who all else did / do you consider to be your strongest musical influences?

“In the Bronx, you know, we had Big Pun, Fat Joe, but I wasn’t too big on them growing up. I was more into Roc-A-Fella, Dipset, G-Unit, Fab — basically everybody from New York that had that 2000’s era. It feels like the early 2000’s era was dominated by New York. I liked how everybody put their words together. That’s why I used to like Cam a lot, because he put words together in a way that used to catch me. Everybody def (did) their thing. I took notes and paid attention.”

In having said that, how do you classify your overall sound and / or style?

“It’s very New York; you can’t hide that. People hear me and they’re like, ‘He’s definitely from New York.’ I feel like New York rappers have a certain sound that when you hear us rap, it’s like if we’re not from the city, then it definitely sounds like you’re from the East Coast. I’m not big on the melody shit. I’m heavy on the rapper side. I don’t look at myself as a super lyrical guy though. I don’t use big ass words all the time. I can get in certain pockets where I’m being lyrical, but it’s not straightforward.”

What particular string of events actually led to your signing to / with Highbridge The Label?

“We all grew up together. We all from the same ‘hood. So the connection is because we all knew each other since we were kids, but the music shit it all started with A Boogie. Once I seen where it was going, I’m like, ‘If I ever have the chance, it’s going to be now. I might as well take it serious now.’ I got niggas coming to me like, ‘Yo, you gotta get on your shit. You see A Boogie about to take off. You gotta be on it!’ I made sure I was in the studio recording, and it just all played out. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have taken having a team behind me so serious. Once I saw the team forming, I was like, ‘This is really my chance.’”

Success, what do you attribute yours to?

“Of course I’m gonna say God first. Who else but God? If it wasn’t for God, I wouldn’t know where the fuck I would be. I feel like having a family that’s very prayed up. You know, my mother prays a lot. So I look at all of that and I put that all into this. This is why I’m here today — things of that nature. I always looked at it like that. There are a lot of situations like that, and not even a rapping. I got out of certain situations in the streets, and I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s crazy! I could’ve died, or some shit like that.’ Like, I feel like it’s God and my family just praying. Making sure I’m good. Putting me in the right situation.”

What do you want people to get from your music?

“I want you to enjoy it. Just take it with you and learn shit from it. Sometimes I try to rap about shit you will learn from. I try to teach people shit. Just enjoy it. It’s coming from my heart.”

On a more serious note, are you happy with the current state of Hip Hop?

“It’s cool, it’s cool. It’s working its way back and getting more and more to the rap. I feel like the roughness kinda is coming back around. You got Lil Baby and DaBaby — they rapping. Even though Baby has a little bit of autotune, he’s still rapping. There’s nothing I would change about it. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Do you have any other outside / additional aspirations, maybe even completely away from music?

“There’s a lot of shit I want to do, especially with all this new shit going on with Crypto and NFTs. I’m speaking to a couple of people, but I don’t want to put too much out there. Definitely got some shit that I’m trying to cook up. You always gotta look into what’s going to take over the future. You don’t want to be behind and wait for the world to jump on it. That’s not smart.”

To date, what has been your greatest career achievement(s), at least thus far anyway?

“You know, coming in the game and being able to be on a Meek Mill album and a Fabolous project. I’ve also been on a Cam’Ron album. These are all guys that I sat in the house and watched and studied when I was a kid. For them to appreciate my work, and let me be a part of their work was very special.”

One track of yours that you think defines you and why?

“‘Artificial’ from Double Or Nothing. I feel like in ‘Artificial,’ I was letting people know what’s going on right now and telling them how I really feel. You could tell listening to that song that’s how I really feel right now and have felt for a while.”

Finally, what’s next for you, Don?

“I’m trying to drop another project at the top of the year. I’m working on that right now. I’m trying to hurry up and finish it up because we’re ready in mid December. I just need to pick out all the songs.”

Is there anything I left out, or just plain forgot to mention?

”No.”

Any “closing” thought(s) for our readers?

“I’m back, man! No more breaks. Don is back. As you can see, I’m back to putting shit out. Giving you guys what you asked for. There’s no stopping this time around.”