The View Behind the Lens… Meet Quron Witherspoon

Imagine this… I’d just turned 30 years old, and everyone always imagines their 30th birthday to be some crazy lavish thing, but for me, I was just at a point where I wanted to prove to myself that I could be great. All I needed was my camera, my computer, and just basic essentials. Got rid of everything else and I said screw it! Imma go down to Miami and imma figure it out. I get down there, and then, there comes a moment where I spent three weeks sleeping in my car and I questioned myself. I questioned my work, I questioned my morality, I questioned everything that I’ve done. I said to myself, “Ok Quron, we can go back and we can work a regular job, or do you really believe in who you are? Are you going to overcome the odds and show people that you’re valuable? Are you going to show people that you’re determined to be great? What are you going to do?”

I believe that when you have a vision and you have tunnel vision for success, you’re going to get led in the right direction. The universe is beautiful in that way. When you treat her right, she’s going to take care of you. And sure enough, I came down here and I had one client who gave me the greatest gift ever, he believed in me. Next thing you know, BAM! I’m living in downtown Miami, I’m working with Rico Love, and I’m living in my purpose. You know, how good is God for that? A lot of success has to do with you having to believe in yourself. How can you have people pay you and believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself?

Meet Quron Witherspoon, aka Q the Rebel. His firm belief in himself has led him to fully live in his purpose. As a firm believer in speaking things into existence he is proof that if you believe in yourself you can manifest your destiny. Q, who calls himself a creative, has used his passions to drive him to his purpose. As a young child, he mastered many instruments such as the saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, and flute. This allowed him the gift to understand the elements of different instruments and the ability to read and write music. Once he understood the sound of the music he began to produce music and then later videos and photos. He explains, “My brain had the complex ability to listen to different vibrant waves and sounds of music and I could close my eyes and I could see the sound of what I create. Vigorously my brain would put visions to music and I wanted to make that come to life, so I had to teach myself the mechanics and the technicalities of bringing video and photo to what I’m hearing. I just wanted to get those visons out of my mind, you know. I wanted to tell the world what I’m seeing.”

While it’s not often what we hear about or even what we see that makes a lasting impression on us, instead it’s how we felt. Quron is capturing those moments, putting emotion to visuals and vision to sound. His passion, his drive, and his exceptional work ethic have led him to work with successful names such as Rico Love, Monica, and Pharrell Williams. Check out my interview with Quron Witherspoon where we discuss a variety of items from his success as a producer, to his faith in not being fearful, then have a few laughs when I try to get him to hook me up with Trey Songz, and get a little feisty with the topic the beauty of the black woman.

-Back before you had any success… When you were younger, did you expect you’d be running around the world producing videos for people like Rico Love and have this much success come your way?
Yes and no. When I was a kid, I was such a nerd man. I was into things that were very technical and I just wanted to kind of blend in. I wasn’t the coolest guy ever, so me wanting that kind of success and attention wasn’t my vision, but as I started to understand my abilities it came with it. As I understood what God had given me with those gifts then I started to foresee where I could go, and believe in my vision and understand my path, that’s when the success started to accumulate. There’s something that happens to you when you find your true passion. When you find your path you’re outta there. But, I didn’t ever see this coming.

-How does it feel to be successful in an industry that you’re so passionate about?
It’s a great feeling. For me, my experience is a tool for me to teach people how to get up in their own way, so I love it. However, I can honestly say success isn’t always fun. You have to be willing to give up everything. People are afraid to give up everything. That’s why they don’t want to chase their dreams. Fear is interesting. It’s a tool that will detour you away from where you want to be. That’s why I try to tell people to be fearless!

-On Instagram, you posted a photo of you and Rico Love stating, “When no one gave me an opportunity… he did.” How has Rico helped to shape your career?
 Man, that’s like my brother man. He shared a text message with me a while ago that almost made me cry. He sent me a quote, he was like “Yo, I’m so proud of you, you know you’re like a little brother to me, to watch you grow and be as great you are, you’re family.” That meant a lot, because this man took a chance on me. Meeting Rico, it was a very chilling feeling because I would see him on the bus and shake his hand and tell him who I am. He was like yea that’s what’s up, ok, I need you to shoot such and such for tonight. Alright, no problem. I’d shoot a video, and my turnaround time would be expedient. I was doing his Instagram videos so fast he would do a performance set and I told him I’ll have your video back to you in 15 minutes and he looked at me crazy like what? But, I was turning around videos literally in 15 minutes. He was shocked the first time, but then I did it again in Memphis, then I did it again in Charlotte, then in Atlanta, and again and again. It was crazy because his fans would leave the performance and would literally be on Instagram like, “Yo, we just left the show and there’s a video for it?” By him seeing that, he knew that I was a valuable asset. When someone sees that you’re a valuable asset, and you have expedient turnaround time every time, and you are reliable and professional… it’s golden. With a sprinkle of a great positive attitude, it’s golden. And, because Rico took that chance on me it allowed doors to open in my career that I never imagined. You know, now I’m working with French Montana, now I’m working with Trina, I’m in studio sessions with ASAP, my connections branched out for me to even work with my hero Pharrell. It’s crazy, but because of having that kind of attitude and having that kind of mentality Rico seen that and he brought me in, and now I do everything you know, his behind the scenes videos everything he does in the studio, of course if he has an artist in there you know I have the connect directly for it, so that’s the greatest blessing I could have ever had in my life.

-WEEELL, if you ever link up with Trey Songz just holla at me!
*laughs* He was in the session actually, just a couple of months ago. They did some amazing records with him, some I can’t talk about, but just be on the lookout man, I’m telling you this guy he got a lot of heat for Trey, it’s going to be huge!

-O-k… ok… WEEELL, I just want to say don’t forget about me! You know… you can put in a word. Just throwing that out there!
*laughs* I hear you… (Special note this interview was done prior to the release of Trey Songz recent album, “Tremaine The Album”. What did you think about the newly released songs?)

-So, moving on, throughout your career you’ve had some amazing opportunities. One in particular, was being involved with the Code Red Tour. What was that experience like working with the very talented Monica?

Yo, Monica is like…. Man… everyone always says this, Monica is like the aunt that you never had, and she is. She’s the sweetest woman ever. To be around her it was the dopest thing ever because I looked at her like wow I really enjoy your music and here we are now and she’s now one of my clients. So, it was a very thrilling experience. She’s such a sweetheart. Can you believe I had thanksgiving dinner with this woman, so yea, it’s crazy. Rico and Monica are really close as well and being with them on that tour was just absolutely breathtaking. I loved it. I loved everything about it.

-Who would you say was the most memorable person you’ve worked with and why?

Pharrell. Pharrell is everything to my life and my career. He’s everything. And I mean that in the most respectful way. I did the Complex Con recaps and I was honored to be in his presence and to do the video to recap and unveil his GStarr Jean Brand. I mean that was just absolutely incredible. I always have these run-into’s with Pharrell. It’s chilling to be with your hero, chilling to talk to your hero and tell him how much he means to you. Every time I meet him I always say yo, I’m going to see you again, and I always get this interesting look from him. I do that because there’s going to be a moment where I’m really going to be next to him shoulder to shoulder and I can tell him this story and it’s going to be the craziest thing ever. So, hands down Pharrell is everything to me.

-Who would you say has given you the best advice and what was it?
Oh, shit man…. Rico. Rico is probably one of the most woke, I’m sorry I have to curse this, but he is one of the most woke M*therf!$*ers I have ever, ever been around. He says so much deep stuff. I have to sit there and my brain has to be a yellow sponge. I can’t say it word for word but Rico Love showed me about the truth and the importance about realness and the importance about learning the truth because that’s all we have right now. I know there’s a quote floating around that Denzel Washington said, but I had heard it from Rico about the news and if you don’t watch the news you’re uninformed, but if you watch the news you’re misinformed. I’ve heard Rico say that in a different fashion and he always told me to always do your research. The truth is the only thing that you can know, and if you know too much of the truth people think you’re crazy. Think about that. If you know too much of the truth people think you’re crazy, but if you don’t know enough you’re insane. People don’t want the truth, people want just whatever’s out there first. Made up or not, doesn’t matter people want drama. People want expedient drama. It was so deep and I was just like damn… it made me think about a lot of artists that are under fire. Case and point, the homie Kanye West. One of the most prolific people that everyone thinks is crazy. I think he just knows too much.

-That’s what you think about his situation?
Oh absolutely, he knows too much.

-So, do you love the new Kanye or the old Kanye?
I respect and love Kanye period. I may not agree with a lot of things he does and the format in which he does things, but I understand, because I’ve been there, because when I tell people the truth people think I’m losing my mind. Even my family members think the industry is messing my mind up.

-What’s something you’ve said that’s led them to be like you’re tripping, that is the truth?
Oh, a lot of things. I talk about gentrification. I talk about how society tell us things that they think is normal. Like how society tells women they need to be married before 30, they need to have kids before 30, you should buy a house and have a 30-year fixed mortgage, settle down, get a 9-5 job, retire at 65. Who makes these rules up? These aren’t rules. These are things that someone told you because someone else told that someone, and someone else told that someone else to tell you. There aren’t any real rules there’s morality versus reality. I say these things to my family members, I say these things to people and most people are like… Wow I never thought of it that way, or damn that makes sense. Another big topic is racism, it’s crazy how it is now. I think racism today is worse than it was in the 50s. I dare you ask me why.

…Why?
Because we have this thing called the internet now. Back then of course whites and blacks weren’t getting together like that, right? It was absolutely shamed upon, but back then you had more black people pulling for each other than you have now. Alright? Today, we actually have mixed couples you know. My daughter’s mixed. My daughter was birth by a white woman you know. And….. I love my sistas, I love my black sisters. I’m for them all day…

……SOOOOO what are you about to say?

Well what that does is. Check this out, systematic racism today is devaluing the black woman. Because what’s happening is they’re putting them out on the internet to make them dress a certain way, make them act a certain way, and lead most black women to think that they’re not valued even though they’re the most valuable gems ever. Black men I say the same thing too. So, what’s happening now is it’s making people not only just hate other races, but now it’s putting pressure on even dating those other races. Now you got white women that are super afraid to date black men because they’re gonna get backlash from black women who think they’re stealing their men and that’s not true. We’re forgetting that love is love man. Everyone is forgetting that love is absolutely love and there’s no diversity to that at all. I think that the biggest answer to racism is to honestly let everyone explore different races. If we take the time to understand every race and every culture and to actually learn to appreciate one another that would take a lot of pressure off the unanswered questions, but because people fear what they don’t know they allow themselves to attack that individual, and all it takes is a little push and media is giving that little push. The media does this by saying things like black man being jailed for XYZ to a white woman or something. When it could have been like 29-year-old Jared such and such was incarcerated. But, the whole point I’m trynna make is that systematic racism now has not only made us be weary of other races, but now it’s like everyone is afraid to jump outside of their element because they don’t want to be shamed, so now that they’re afraid of it they criticize it. We’re in a very dangerous time and it’s not fair. It’s not fair. You gotta think black women are the most oppressed women, but the value of black woman is amazing.

-Interesting… I think people can love whoever they want to love, you do you, whatever. I don’t care. However, at the end of the day if you grow up seeing black men constantly loving or having children by white women then in your mind you’re being taught to devalue yourself because you’re seeing that must be what beauty is if that’s what these men are marrying and who these men are having children by. So, the question is what has caused these black men to marry and be more attracted to these white women than black women?
Um, it’s more subconscious than you think, and it’s not all that are doing that. It’s how the chips are being played alright.

-Un huh. What does that mean?
So, systematically or statistically, people are saying aw because black women are so angry they’re always lashing out. No, it’s just honestly most black women don’t tolerate bullshit and they have a unique way of expressing that. But, here’s the thing. Again, like the reason why I love my sisters so much is because of what I said before. The only thing I try to always educate my sisters to do all the time is to try to come at black men with a different balance. Give them a little bit more rope. A little bit more lea-weigh..

-Whyyy y’all aren’t gonna give me any more rope?
But hold on let me finish. Have absolute excellent expectations, right? But, I promise you, I promise you… even me, the person I’m dating she’s black, but even me, it’s like, I had this conversation that when you give me lea-weigh that shows me you’re understanding, you have some sense of understanding. Instead of saying you shouldn’t do that, ask me, why are you?

-UMMM O-K I’ll give you that. *inner black girl rolls eyes*
So, it’s because black women feel so pressured that they have to be so intense. And sometimes that intensity isn’t… it’s unnecessary. So men, I’m not gonna front men we’re dumb, we’re typically dumb. If we’re being pounded on so much we’re going to go to something that is more comforting. In general, I think black men need more comfort than ever. More than ever right now. We need to be told how amazing we are because we get shitted on a lot. And, you ask why black men are running away, well, because the TV and internet are showing us that black men are being beaten up, they’re showing how black men are being shamed by black women… we’re cheaters or liars or dogs. You know, I read it all the time and I’m like damn why are you dogging this guy. I’m not saying it’s wrong and I’m not saying he’s right for what he did, but he shouldn’t be dogged like that, and because he’s being dogged like that there’s other brothers that are like damn, is that how that is, well sh*t, let me go over here with Becky Sue and see how this is going on.

*laughs* Why Becky Sue…
I’m just telling you systematically how it’s happening. I mean I think bigger than that, but a person that doesn’t think bigger than that isn’t going to see it that way. They’re going to go with what’s comfortable so that’s why I feel black men need comfort more than ever. That’s why I’m always amping my sistas up like yo, I’m telling you, coddle that dude, tell him how great he is. If you inspire a black man he’s going to fucking kick Mount Everest. Real Shit. You see the unimaginable features that a black man can do. If we can keep encouraging and supporting our black men that way then I’m telling you, you won’t have issues I guarantee it.

-Well alllllright… I’ll give you those points, but I’m going to keep it moving, because I feel like I can talk on that all day back and forth.
*laughs*

-What would you say has been your most memorable success on this journey?
Between me being around Pharrell and working with Rico Love. Those are hands down the two realest experiences ever. Because Pharrell inspired me to be great and do great work, and Rico Love put my work to life.

-What advice would you give others pursuing their dreams?
Don’t be afraid. Be great and believe that. And I also always say, speak all things into existence. Absolutely everything. Everything! I do it all day. Real talk… you can look at the pictures that I have, and I post those pictures with celebrities because I want people to believe that this is believable and that they can do it too. Because there’s things I said I was gonna do it and look, it happened. There’s people that comment on my pictures that are like yo, I remember you said you were going to do this like six years ago.

-What’s next for Quron Witherspoon?
Um, same motto I always use every time. I want to outdo myself every year. So, I need to outdo everything that I’ve done last year. I’m going to be getting into short films. I’m going to be getting into trying to brand and develop women in a more positive aspect. Because anybody can have a big butt and nice breasts and look cute on camera. I’m over that. I want to brand a woman’s lifestyle. So, that’s something I want to do a short film about.

–MAKE SURE you have some cute dark skin black women too.
Come on, those are my favorite! Their skin tone is so bold. They’re bold in black and white. BOLD. That’s like one of the biggest misconceptions with me too. Everyone thinks that. I love black women, you guys give us the toughest time and I like to be challenged like that.

But yea, I plan on doing a lot of stuff like that. I even have a partner in mind, Joe Edward, Joe Films I’m going to be sitting down with him and I want to do another segment on the abilities of black women because I think the world has got black women so misconstrued. They think that they just have phat asses or whatever and voluptuous shapes and it’s like alright, I want to remind the world of the other beauties that she has. So, be on the lookout for stuff like that.

Thanks to Quron for the interview! He definitely challenged my thoughts and gave me new perspectives to consider. He also reminded me that “Success doesn’t come easy. It’s a road where your trust for others and will to never give up has its constant battle……” –Quron Witherspoon.

Be sure to follow him on Instagram @qtherebel.