Ask A Magnolia Newsletter #1 

November 3rd, 2023

Hello! If you’ve received this newsletter, introductions are of no need, it’s your boy QUADRY. I’m going to keep this exchange brief, so let me start by explaining a few things. I’m writing to you on the anniversary of my 2018 album, Malik Ruff.

I wanted to have vinyls ready for you all, but we failed to meet the pre-order threshold for production. With that being said, I thought it would be a missed opportunity if we didn’t celebrate somehow. So within that spirit, I present to you… you know I’m going to just let it speak for itself.

Interview with Yoh 

Rap Portraits Co-Founder, Co-Host of Fuck You Money, QUADRY’s homie

Witness. Poet. Thinker.

What Era & Part Of Atlanta Did You Grow Up In? 

I was Born in 1991, Grady Hospital Atlanta, GA, but was raised 30 minutes south of the city in Clayton County aka Jurassic Park. Usher Crunk Era TI mid 2000s Trap Musik Ludacris. I didn’t go to freaknik, but I was alive. For 32 years I’ve been here, from mid 2000s to 2020s. LATTO used to perform at my parents skating rink, my parents owned Skate Zone on Mt Zion Blvd. I grew up in a time where I seen music activate teenagers. 

For me it started around 8/9, starting to become aware of who USHER is, TI is happening. I grew up in the era where music from Atlanta became part of the culture. Riverdale is 15 minutes from where I’m from, College Park is 20 minutes.

What excites you about HIP HOP right now? 

I don’t know, one thing that excites me is that it’s unlike any other era before. At 50 years old this thing is still changing. I don’t know too many people that change at 50. There is some resistance as to how much things have changed, but I also see people embracing the evolution. So I’m excited about the aspect that I don’t know what it’s becoming anymore. I’m really excited it’s not dead to be honest. I came up in 2006, the era of Nas saying Hip Hop is dead. And we were kind of the place to blame. There was a lot of emphasis that the South was in the wrong on how we carry tradition. The fact that it didn’t die and we were able to assist in hip hops evolution, I’m glad it’s alive. 

What is Genius? 

2021, me and Vacay went out to LA and linked up with the production duo Take A DAYTRIP. David of Take A DAYTRIP said genius is something that passes through you. Like it comes to you, floats around your head and then it leaves, and moments of genius are when you harness that moment and are able to express it in your chosen creative medium. From that point on I’ve thought about genius in that context 

Genius is something that comes to you. I think geniuses are people that recognize it constantly. The people that can harness and protect the moments of genius the most are the ones called genius. I think people tend to have moments of incredible excellence and obviously there’s certain practices that keep you open to moments. I don’t believe we are inherently able to sustain that level of excellence. You think about creativity, every thought is not genius. But there are moments when it passes through you. Last night I couldn’t sleep and a sentence came to me at 3AM. The more I laid there, the more I worried the idea was going to leave me and I wouldn’t remember I got up and wrote for an hour.

Is QUADRY one of the best rappers alive? 

You're insane for asking that question. Being the one to ask that is such a wild question to ask and I had to sit there and think for a second. My question to you is what does that even mean to you? What is that criteria? I feel back in the day, it was a sense of us knowing who that person was. 

Now I’m trying to figure out what we even based that on. I know what I like about QUADRY as a rapper and I know what QUADRY does better than some artists I listen to, but I don’t have a “this is the best rapper alive right now”. 

I feel like lil Wayne has been trying to re impress me again for like 10 years. Every time I think he got it, he does something that make me think man why you do that to me? I think QUADRY is one of the best rappers at observing his surroundings and translating the situations and circumstances he actually lives into something that has imagery and has a certain kind of vividness.

I always feel like I relate to how real QUADRY music is, and not real in the sense of how we want rap to be like this hyper authentic art form where every thing the artist says has to be true. But like a real perspective. I never feel like I’m downloading someone else’s thoughts, feelings, and flows when I listen to QUADRY. I know he’s going to show up authentically and I don’t think there’s a better rapper at being QUADRY then QUADRY.

It was around mid 2019. Maybe May. Before I got my money, my manager at the time and now friend, Thomas Garber, and I went to visit my friend Tremaine Emory. Me and him trade books, and I went over to check out his collection. While I browsed around, our small talk started to develop into a conversation. We went out on the balcony to smoke and further indulge in ideas and language. he asked me what I wanted out of Hip Hop? a simple question, but for a person like me it’s answer would be layered and thoughtful. I replied I just want to give the genre what it gave me, a sense of confidence and security. I want to give a teenager the same feeling I felt when I discovered music that I love to this day. He was satisfied with my reply. 

Hello again. I hope you found some inspiration or knowledge in the newsletter today. We conclude the first issue of the Ask A Magnolia Newsletter with an unreleased Malik Ruff Era song: "Groom Road" produced by Tev’n, with additional production by Mike Hector. If you purchased the vinyl, you have it, but if you subscribe to my newsletter you can listen as well.

Goodbye, I’ll see you next month. 

With love, QUADRY.