I was lucky enough to connect with Q-York Edutainment’s CEO Knowa Lazarus before a trip to the homeland in October. For those who don’t already know, Q-York are the Filipino Hip Hop Production team behind ‘Mainit’ with the Philippine Allstars; and artists in their own right. This song has propelled them into the limelight over in the Philippines, with more commercial awareness and recognition in Filipino mainstream entertainment. But where exactly did it all begin, how has their Filipino upbringing over in the US helped them in the Philippines, their inspirations and what is in store for the future? Knowa Lazarus explains all.

Where did it all begin for Q-York?
“It all began back in Queens, NY; we were just a bunch of friends who loved Hip-Hop, who one day just made it official in our friend’s back yard. We just wanted to do what we love and make a living off of it.  We had big dreams, but no real plan or strategy, just felt that we had to do something about it and go for it.”

What has kept you in the music game?
“GOD.  Faith. And the belief that music can inspire and create positive change in this world. “

Who and what are your inspirations – music, fashion and business wise?
“With Music and Fashion we always try to be open and keep ourselves as sponges and absorb anything we can from everything. We all commit ourselves to keeping open minds and set our pride aside, we believe that by working together we can and will create the best product possible. We all push each other to be the best version of ourselves as possible and we apply this to everything we do. We also try to push the limits with everything creative we do our goal is to redefine and set trends not follow them.

Businesswise, we are all full-blooded “Entrepinoy’s”! My business practices was actually honed and developed during the time we spent living in Los Angeles. We had to find a means to survive so we started a CD/DVD & Graphic Design business to pay our bills and allow us to continue living the dream. It was a struggle at first, but it showed us how to market, promote and run a business. Even though we are here in the Philippines, our business still runs in the U.S. headed by T.H.E Menace.”

How has your Filipino background and values helped you along the way?
“At first growing up in Queens, NY, I honestly saw being Filipino as a hindrance; I grew up in predominantly Spanish neighbourhood, spoke fluent Spanish and almost had no Filipino friends. In a way I was ashamed of my heritage, as I was completely ignorant about it. My mother and my uncles were very poor in the Philippines, so they pushed me to be as American as possible. It was only in my late teens when a friend gave me a book about Philippine History, I read about Jose Rizal, Lapu Lapu and I discovered how rich our culture was, and I was enthralled and instilled with great pride at that moment. I realised then the richness of our culture and how the world needed to hear about it. I guess you can say I found something that was missing; that I never even knew was there. As the saying goes, knowledge is power and I began to see our peoples power, and I realized I needed to represent that, and also help and inspire others Filipino’s who felt like they weren’t proud of who their heritage to awaken to their true power. There are so many Filipino’s worldwide, who aren’t aware of their roots, who tell people they are ‘Spanish’ or ‘Hawaiian’ which I guess in some way is true, we are islanders and are mixed, but for us to truly rise as a nation and a people we need to unite and work together, and claim our culture, for it is beautiful in every way, we just have to see our own beauty and fulfil our infinite potential. “

What is the concept or the ideas behind ‘Mainit’ and ‘His-Story’?
“‘Mainit’ is basically a representation of how ‘Hot’ the Philippines is, not just temperature wise, but also by the movement of the people. It is also to help inspire our people to rise up and realize we can be ourselves and compete in the world market thru anything we want to do. Just as Latino culture has become mainstream with words like “Bonita”, “Mami”, “Papi” being used everywhere, we were figuring to put out our language to the world in a similar fashion, to take something old and make it new. Basically it’s Edutainment, if you listen to the lyrics its really deep, but it still has that club appeal, and that’s what we want to bring to the world, something that not only moves your feet, but also moves your soul.

History is the past, but His-Story will last! His-Story is the movement we represent, God’s movement, without God in our lives and keeping faith in a higher purpose, everything we are doing wouldn’t be possible. This is our belief, God is love, God is uplifting, God is life-saving, and God is everything we should strive to be. We are not perfect, but we can do our best every day to fulfil a purpose that is greater than ourselves, and that is His-Story.”

How is the collaboration with the Allstars different to any of the other Filipino hip-hop acts and production teams?
“It’s so many elements at once, it’s attacking from every angle, its hip-hop, r&b, dance, fashion, its overseas Filipinos, its native Filipinos, and it’s a representation of the entire diasporas of our people. We’ve all humbled ourselves to God and we embrace the idea that it is because of him that we shine, I think that has allowed us to set aside our pride and strive for what’s best. When I say best I don’t mean the best song, or the best dance, or the best beat or the best raps, it’s really what’s best for the vision, the vision of inspiring our Filipino people around the world in the motherland to be proud of our culture to the point love for our people and country is seeping out of our pores. We want to redefine and restore the sense of identity many of us have lost, due to our scarred past and the necessity to adapt to new environments for the sake of opportunity. Q-York & Philippine Allstars work together as a team; we strive to bring out the best in ourselves and each other, to hopefully help inspire others to do the same. We share our experiences and knowledge, we are family. To me we aren’t that different, we’re just true to ourselves and the belief in the vision of “His-Story: Rising”.”

How has ‘Mainit’ been received by Filipino audiences? (Esp. in the Philippines as you’ve been on mainstream TV for e.g. ASAP - Do they get it?)
“’Mainit’ has been out for a while now, and it’s amazing… it’s only getting bigger and bigger. If you search YouTube, there’s dance crews all over the Philippines dancing to ‘Mainit’, people free styling to it, and even a dance crew that named themselves “The Mainit Crew”. It took a while for people to get it, but I think they are catching on more and more, it’s amazing to see people awakening to a part of themselves and a pride in their culture they may have overlooked previously. That is what makes it all worth it, to see people being inspired. “

What is next for the Q-York/AllStars team? Other collabs? Other future projects? Global domination?
“We’re still working on our album, we’re actually releasing another video in conjunction with Gawad Kalinga by the end of September. The song is basically promoting the cause of Gawad Kalinga it’s titled “Time to Shine”, christened by Tony Meloto, the founder of Gawad Kalinga. We have more than enough tracks for an album however we’re focusing on releasing singles right now to spread the message and build the buzz, until the time is right. We’ve sat down with labels here, but even they are still shocked and not sure what to do with us.

I also just launched our clothing line – “Barong Jersey” - www.barongjersey.com. We ship worldwide and offer free shipping; our product has garnered much attention here in the Philippines from the media. We also have a Positive Pinoy Apparel and Music Retail store, which we’ve opened: www.capitalgshop.com

Music-Wise, I do have plans for a solo project, but there is no definite date on that, just compiling songs, and waiting for the right time to unleash it. Right now, I’m focusing on letting the world know ‘His-Story’. I’m still sort of new here in the Philippines still only been here less than a year, but I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many talented artists and even work with some, we’re all just getting started, the possibilities are infinite.

In the end, we just want to help bridge the gap between our people, whether it is generations, different nations, we just want to provide the inspiration. =) haha. Our ultimate goal and vision is to help transform the Philippines from 3rd world country to 1st world country… 3 to 1.”

It’s evident that Q-York Edutainment will not only continue to grow their music but venture as entrepreneurs with their own brand in the Philippines. They have the strength and respect for each other as a unit to do this on a collaborative level but also as individuals for sideline projects. They convey to our generation and to those who will follow, the importance of knowing our roots. Also that with hard work and determination you can also accomplish your goals and future aspirations. For Q-York, this is only the beginning of a new chapter… It is now their ‘Time to Shine’.

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A big THANK YOU to Knowa Lazarus and Dave Classick.

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Dec 2009 - Recent update for those in the Philippines:
1st Annual URBAN MUSIC AWARDS Nominations:
“MAINIT” as Best Video of the Year & Best Original Song
KNOWA LAZARUS as Best Male Hip Hop Artist
KENJHONS as Best Male R&B Artist & Best New Artist 
“TIME 2 SHINE [BUILD IT UP] as Best Collaboration of the Year
VOTE for THE PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD  text: wave 891 uma (vote) & send to 2968

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Links:
Q-York  Edutainment:  www.q-york.com
Barong Jersey:  www.barongjersey.com
Positive Pinoy Apparel & Music:  www.capitalgshop.com
Myspace:  www.myspace.com/qyorkmusic

Posted on 12 December 2009 by Lani in Fashion, Music, Profile

Tagged barong jersey, knowa lazarus, mainit, philippine allstars, q-york edutainment, time to shine