The number of misguided NBA athletes’ egos that got punctured like busted tires trying to get into the rap game is enough to fill up a landfill (and their wretched rhymes reek just as badly). But NBA guard-forward Marquis Daniels has crossed-up music critics and his NBA counterparts alike with a burgeoning musical career that’s rising steadily like the tide.
Know this about Daniels: The 6-foot-6 Auburn product is the pure emobiment of the popularized urban phrase “going hard in the paint.” The Central Florida native leaves pieces of himself on every NBA court he steps onto. And every day during the summer, the rising rapper who rips off rapper-fire deliveries does the same inside his musical bunker in Central Florida. Daniels, the 10-year b-ball veteran with as much experience behind the mic, is the founder Q6 Entertainment and has worked with the likes of Gucci Mane and Trina among his impressive portfolio of collaborations and hits. And he’s about to drop his latest mixtape, Red Alert, in the fall of 2012 and works with his crew, 1090 Blokk Boyz.
Most of you who are aware of this talented baller are totally oblivious of his prowess in the studio. And that’s just the way Daniels, who raps under the stage name Q6, likes it.
“A lot of people don’t know, I’ve been rapping for, like 10 years man. I’ve been rapping for a long time. And I just had to play my role and work my way up just like everybody else. I didn’t want to be using my NBA status. I wanted to work my way up.”
And Q works hard at his basketball and his ever-expanding music skills because he grew up hard, cutting his teeth in the Crosstown section of Orlando, Fla. (that’s right; Orlando is not just Mickey Mouse and Disney World) as he warns prospective visitors to the tourist capital of the country: “Yah, man, Orlando ain’t what everybody think it is, man. It ain’t nothing to brag about,” he said. “I’m blessed. But if you act wrong down here on vacation, you gonna leave here on probation.”
Q uses his life experiences as not only the contents for his raps; he uses those gritty experiences to continue to drive himself to success, whether on the court, in the studio or on stage. “I’m from Orlando, so I have to rap the South,” says Q, who came up in the game off a steady diet of Trick Daddy, Two Live Crew, Trina and Rick Ross. “But I just like to tell the truth, whether I did it or I’ve been through it. I have older brothers and people from the neighborhood (and through them) I’ve seen a lot and I’m able to tell my story about it.”
When Q6 and his Blokk Boyz eventually arrive at the intersection of Fame and Fortune, Daniels wants to travel to that destination via his music instead of his status as a professional athlete.
“I want to pay my dues; I want to be respected. When people listen to my music, I want them to be like ‘oh, okay, who is that?’ And when they find out it’s me, then they can say ‘well, he can rap.’ I didn’t want to be like the others (players who want to rap). You hear it all the time and I didn’t want to be in that category.”
There’s no need for concern about that, especially when you get ahold of sounds flowing out of Q6 Entertainment. Q6 blasted ashore the musical landscape with his crew 1090 Blokk Boyz, consisting of D-Boy, Mojo, Baby Boy and Keys and together they have constructed an enviable track record of singles and mixtapes that serve as the foundation to build and propel themselves to the next level.
It began in 2005 with the pulsating “P**** and Patron” featuring Gucci Mane and Big Tuck and followed that up the next year with his debut tape Set it Up that was hosted by DJ Bigga Rankin, 6th Sense hosted by DJ Smallz and Brother from Another Mother with DJ Drop. As and the 1090 Blokk Boyz Life in the Fast Lane hit the streets, their industry cache has multiplied. With the upcoming mixtape Red Alert,Q and his crew are serving up a diverse musical menu of sonic treats such as “Numbers” and “Freak Hoes 2.0.
And as you willl bare witness from the accompanying videos, the sophisticated production and their searing lingusitic game, Q6 and 1090 Blokk Boyz have mixed a potent cocktail of flavorings that will be appealing to the palates of hip hop heads nationwide. And what they have to say, and how they deliver it, is the chaser that helps fans wash it all down.
“I’ve been rapping for 10 years. I’ve always been a fan of music and you can tell that when you listen to me,” he says resolutely and passionately. “My style is way different. I got so much gas and flavors, it’s crazy. My lingo is crazy. My whole crew is way gone, out of this world.”
You can peep out Q6 and 1090 Blokk Boyz with the video “Nikki” and via www.iamq6.com.
