We recently connected with Quintin Randle and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Quintin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, I have been able to be a full time DJ for over almost 2 decades now. My journey started after leaving college and coming back home to figure out life. I held several jobs between retail, call centers and shipping companies but those different environments helped me realize I wasn’t interested in conventional work. `What really held my interest the most was the social scene and while still working 2 or 3 jobs at a time, I still was able to have a social life. I gravitated to live music and club events. My start as a DJ was a mid-week poetry night, playing with a live band, between acts and during intermission. That quickly grew from a small lounge to a 2 level club, where I played the after party to the open mic. That was a major step for me, early on, as a DJ and entrepreneur because it showed that nightlife and entertainment was sustainable in Kansas City.

Quintin , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m DJ Q, from Kansas City and I’ve been in entertainment for nearly 20 years. My start in entertainment was with a group called Urban Literation that held a weekely spoken word poetry night called U-Lit on Wednesday nights, in the early 2000’s. Starting there in my DJ career exposed me to both the live music/artist circles of the entertainment scene as well as the bars and restaurant circles. The early 2000’s was a unique time in KC nightlife because there weren’t many DJs around my age that served the Black, college to young adult demographic. Most clubs and entertainment districts didn’t cater to that audience so I was able to fill an underserved demographic of the social scene. Fast forward to the present, I run my own production company Five Enterprise and I have my hands in different businesses. UpDown Nightlife and Kin Seltzer (Nightlife app and the 1st Black owned hard seltzer) are businesses I’m a part of, as well as mixing daily on Power105.1, The Wake Up Mix at 7am during the Shay Moore Morning Show. Lastly, I’m a co-host for The W Show which covers sports and pop culture.

My brand attracts people from various cultures and lifestyles. The Kansas City metro area is growing and diversifying at a pace that attracts people from aroud the world and I’ve been able to build relationships in various circles during that growth.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

A mission that’s always been part of my career as a DJ and a creative was to create spaces for Black people and the people who want to be in our proximity, a space to be themselves. Over the last 5-7 years the KC metro area is much more inviting to diverse crowds but previous years you had to find spaces welcoming different cultures and alternative lifestyles. Many venues had restrictive playlist, dress codes or just didn’t hire Black DJs at all. Which left a void in the city but also created opportunity for entertainers and those with social capital.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Being from a city that was built on segregation and redlining there’s been several points that I’ve have to pivot in the entertainment space. The social scene moves in cycles every 2-4 years, venues change direction or close and spots get stale, so it allows for an opportunity to try the next ideas in different arenas. One example was leading into the 2010’s, along with a group of creatives, we started an open mic called Soul Sessions in the 18th & Vine District. It was a rough start the first few months but the city was so rich with talented performers, it became a foundational tool for performing artists in the city within 8-10 months. By year 2 we were attracting national performers on a Monday night. That pivot to hosting a weekly production lead to my current production business but also pushed other artists to pursue their careers as a performer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.djQspin.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djq_kc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DJQKC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quintin-randle-36067a8a/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DJQ_KC
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DJQKansasCity