Although primarily a rapper, Jose Villanueva III, also known as Quest, is also an accomplished singer.
Not too many may be aware of it but this year’s Awit Award winner for Album of the Year (“Life of a Champion”) and Best Inspirational Song (“Higher”) was the lead vocalist and music ministry director for the Christian church Victory before deciding to pursue a career in music.
The 35-year-old singer-songwriter first gained national prominence when he participated in the recording of the PhilPop R&B smash, “Dati.” Although he did just the rap part in the song written by the R&B duo of Thyro & Yumi and recorded by Sam Concepcion and Tippy Dos Santos, Quest went on to regularly perform the song in his own live shows where his soulful delivery of the sung parts was a big hit with fans.
In a previous interview with InterAksyon, Quest said that he turned to rap music so he did not have to worry about not hitting the high notes. Nonetheless, he has not totally turned his back on singing. He is one of the few hip-hop artists in the country who can both rap and sing well in the same tune.
During the launch of the Locally Blended Juice Drink’s Locally Fruit Truck at the recently concluded BGC Passionfest at Bonifacio Global City, Quest regaled promenaders with a stirring set that included his best known hits like “Sige Lang,” “Walang Hanggan” and, yes, “Dati.”
He also took the time to rave about NutriAsia’s Locally by NutriAsia, the first quirky Filipino juice line made from indigenous local fruits with flavors like Tamarind My Bell (tamarind), Pomelong & Lasting Love (pomelo), Save the Best for SinigueLAST (siniguelas), Calamansi’z the Day (calamansi), Guyabano-body But You (guyabano), You’ve Dalandan It Again (dalandan), and Mangosteenie Miney Mo (mangosteen).
Following his guest stint at the Locally event, Quest returned the following day to headline his own solo concert at the BGC Passionfest, the annual event dubbed as “A FestivAll in Seasons” and defined as “a revelry of culture, traditions and diverse pursuits.”
His well-received sets in the event came on the heels of “Winning Moment,” his successful solo concert last October at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura. Now with an even more commanding stage presence, a very confident Quest is obviously at the top of his game.
Quest is known for writing and performing soaring songs that he describes as anthems. “Sige Lang,” which he wrote in 2012, is the theme song of the Gilas Pilipinas basketball team, while “Win That Moment” is a collaboration with KZ Tandingan for BPI-PhilAm.
His latest single, “Tagay,” is about the resilience that Filipinos are known for.
“The song speaks of the Filipino struggle and how we overcome this with love, heart, family, and God,” noted Quest who added that it is also inspired by a lot of things including his recent concert, his work with World Vision, his Awit Award victories and even the back-to-back championships of PBA fan favorites Barangay Ginebra.
Written and produced by Quest and mixed and mastered at Sonic State Studios, “Tagay” is distributed by Warner Music Philippines and is now available for download via Soundcloud. It will also be soon available on Spotify and iTunes.
Watch the official music video directed by Andrei Antonio here:
