Quincy & sister Kidada circa '96

For over 20 years Quincy Jones III, aka QD3 has helped redefine urban entertainment. A breakdancer and producer during the pioneering days of hip-hop, QD3 went on to produce for the legendary likes of Tupac, Ice Cube and Prince, has scored television and film titles like "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and Menace II Society and masterminded the groundbreaking QD3 film collection that birthed documentary DVD classics Thug Angel and the BEEF series among others. This week 24 Hour Grind tapped QD3 to talk about filmmaking, scoring and being a part of hip-hop history.

Be Humble and Don’t Underestimate Your Audience
Be humble, especially when you are making documentaries. You are trying to teach somebody something, so there isn’t a whole lot of room to be so business about how you go about that. Don’t be Hollywood, try to humble yourself as much as possible because when you are doing documentary, you are literally learning from other people. It’s not about what you have to say, it’s about what the people are telling you. Just be open and realize that you are there to learn, so take what you learn and teach other people. Being humble is a great asset to doing quality work because you are open to the content other people are giving you.

Also, don’t underestimate your audience, try to make them grow rather then trying to pull it down to the level they’re at. Make them stretch to where you want them to be. If you teach them something you aren’t going to leave a trendy impression, you’ll leave a lasting impression and that’s what we focus on with our films a lot. That to me is the most fulfilling part of what we do. Sometimes we’ll have a conversation or interview an artist and they’ll use quotes from our film without even knowing it.

Quincy w/ his Father and President Clinton at the White House New Years '00

Greatest Moments in QD3 History:
Probably why I’m doing what I’m doing now, is that when my parents separated, I moved from Beverly Hills to public housing with my mother when I was 4 years old. I’d come back to visit my pops and hang with Michael Jackson and watch those crazy sessions and hang with Spielberg and then go back home. I really appreciate having that perspective from to going back and forth between the top of society and the bottom of society, because when you’re making film you can make them for both sides. it puts you in a position to build a bridge. It’s been an interesting combination, giving me access to the best and also access to what most people are going through.

Having our titles be on BET, sell like hotcakes both in the stores and in bootleg markets and be used in college courses is the biggest compliment. It's great being able to cover all those areas credibly. Originally we wanted to teach with these DVD, so having them be accepted by Penn State, UCLA and Berkeley while also being bootlegged on Canal Street is a nice cross section. I can’t think of a better outcome.

View from QD3's Stockholm projects in the 70's

For more on QD3 Entertainment and the QD3 collection visit www.qd3.com