The city of San Antonio has brought many talented artists our way in recent years, sort of acting like a breeding ground for lyricism and talent itching to find their way out and shine. This trend continues with the 25 year old artist, Qwest.
Qwest released his last album titled Growing Pains back in December of last year, ending his year and starting the new year on a high note with the set of sounds. The 10 track album serves as his way of showing the violence that tends to effect black communities, something that not only he has gotten used to but many minorities around the states have as well. Growing Pains is more like a movie presented through audio, in his own words Qwest says “The album is inspired by my own cousin passing away, I take you through a quest through 10 songs of causes and effects”. The project does a great job of connecting the intro “Wrong Side” to each song that comes after it, which in turn may be hard to do but Qwest conquered his vision with “Dummies” closing out the album perfectly. The artist goes into more detail about track number 8 saying “In the outro “Dummies” I give a quick overview of what it’s like to grow up in that type of environment then ask the question, would you do the same if you were in the same place as any of the characters”. Does the cycle continue or does it end there? That is a question the San Antonio native is curious to know, Growing Pains depicts the continuity of that cycle and the pain that comes with it.
The album contains two bonus tracks and has features from plenty of artists that had a hand in creating the work of art. Qwest goes solo on two of the ten tracks, but that doesn’t take away anything from what he was able to accomplish with the project. Growing Pains reminds me of Kendrick Lamar’s debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city due to the story telling behind it. Yes that is a bold statement to make, but then again it isn’t if you take the ride with Qwest and his Growing Pains. With an upcoming EP set to drop at the end of this month, now is the perfect time to stream his previous release below via Spotify and be sure to follow the artist on social media as well.
Social Media
Twitter: @Qwest97
Instagram: @qwest97
Be Known.