Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Quie (Q Bwoy) Anthony of Hollywood / Silver Lake

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Quie (Q Bwoy) Anthony. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Quie (Q Bwoy), it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Yes, one of the projects I’m working on that brings me great joy is, our “Thanksgiving Can Food Drive For The Homeless” that we have done annually at our weekly Caribbean events for the past 20+ years. We really love the type of events that can give back to the LA community and or bring the community closer together. Our model at all of our events is “One Love” for we know we are all on people and people all just wanna feel some love.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Greetings Voyage LA, Thanks so much for having me. For those that don’t know me my name is Quie Anthony and I began my journey in Los Angeles nightlife back in 1993 as Q Bwoy Productions was birthed at the legendary Kingston 12 night club in Santa Monica. The first event was an underground hip hop / reggae night that featured live performers like Jeru The Damaja, The Goodie Mob feat. CeeLo Green, The Black Eyed Peas & More. That underground night lasted from 1993 – 1995 until the Kingston 12 asked me to take over their Sunday nights which launched the birth of the Internationally Known “Jamaican Gold” Sundays (Los Angeles longest running reggae/ dancehall weekly event.). Jamaican Gold was an unbeliveable ride that featured some of the biggest names in reggae / dancehall music, like Barrington Levy, Buju Banton, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Frankie Paul, Shabba Ranks, Beres Hammond, Sizzla, Capleton, Damien Marley, Sean Paul, Elephant Man, Wayne Wonder, Born Jamericans, Red Rat, Mr. Vegas, Mad Lion, Eek-A-Mouse, Alton Elils, Lady Saw, Sister Nancy, Half Pint and so many more musical legends. Although Jamaican Gold Sundays was severely derailed by the covid 19 pandemic, it reopened In 2022 – 2024). It also spun credible nights such as Jamaica Live Thursdays (1997 – 2018) and POOM POOM Tuesdays (2009 – Present) weekly inside The World Famous El Cid On Sunset Blvd. Jamaican Gold was scheduled to make its return June 2025 for The Jamaican Gold 30th Anniversary, with an unbelievable reunion but was scaled down due to the Altadena / Palisades wildfires, and then postponed due to violent Ice Raids running wild, last June in Los Angeles. With so many great moments, legendary performances, friends and family births, I know we have to celebrate the 30yr mark, and will when love and unity once again dominates government and community in Los Angeles!    

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The first person that told me I was on the right track producing reggae / dancehall events in LA was the legendary Joe Higgs, If you’re not familiar with that name, Joseph Benjamin Higgs was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson. He was a popular artist in Jamaica for four decades and is also known for his work tutoring younger musicians including Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. He frequently showed up and sometime perform at live reggae night I promoted inside the West End in Santa Monica. The second was a man we called King Richard, whom was one of the owners / Mc of the Kingston 12. King Richard pretty much taught me all that I know about Rasta traditions, reggae / dancehall music, building up the energy inside a party and most importantly to understand energy and vibrations or as we just say the vibes. I met King Richard working at my high school job back in 1990, and once the Kingston 12 closed in 1997 he was my official MC and worked with us until cancer took his life in 2014.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Sure, there are many times that made me think about getting out of the business. First let me just say that most true passion is birthed by purpose, the purpose of my passion was to bring the beauty of Caribbean one love culture to Los Angeles. If you spent time in LA in the early 90’s, you would’ve seen the social separation of color sectioned off by neighbor hoods of White people uptown, Black people midtown And Brown People downtown. My parents bought a house uptown once redlining became illegal in California, so I grew up with all races of people as we lived right behind an elementary school that bussed kids in all over the city. Once I got to middle school it became blarney obvious that most kids didn’t grow up being exposed to so many cultures of so many different people. So growing up I know because I was around many different people it gave me an understanding that racism is fueled by ignorance of not knowing. The best tool of breaking down those social walls is through music and art, so once I had a chance to play loud music in night clubs, I was truly committed to the works of Bob Marley to bring the city of LA together with one love culture and music. But having a wife and 3 kids made me think maybe I should do something more traditional for work, I recall after 10yrs of Jamaican Gold maybe I should stop producing night clubs, and especially when my good friend / mentor King Richard passed I thought I should stop. But even after an ex-partner lawsuits and others mutiny, I knew that what I was doing was so much bigger then myself, giving LA a place of one love and culture is the truth. And although in over 30yrs of quality events, I’ve gotten very little recognition of Los Angeles city officials, corporate sponsorship, or even from some of the artist I helped get record deals, I wouldn’t have changed my journey for anything. Crazy nowadays I actually hear club patrons say “I met my wife or husband at your party”, and even better when I hear patrons say “You know my Parents They used to party with you back at the Century Club Or Dragonfly”. Hearing things like that make it worth wild wither 1000ppl per-night or 100ppl per-night. The truth of anything great is shown in the fruit it bares, Seen..

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The biggest lie my industry sales is its all about rich people and living lavish. As we see what bottle service did to Hollywood nightlife it’s just a shame. Think about it, before bottle service changed the dance club landscape in 2004-present to sit at a table with a bottle host, the average size of a Hollywood club was 600-800ppl Until 2005 now about 150ppl – 200ppl is the average size of Hollywood venues and many have closed their doors in the past year or are up for sale. The dance era made it possible for everyone, even collage students could afford to go out and club weekly, but now, how many college kids do you know that can afford to go clubbing weekly and buy a table for $400-$800? Early on I knew that was one of the good things about Caribbean parties, they still just wanna dance and celebrate life. Funny thing is you always had Caribbean people buying bottles and packs of beers, that’s part of their culture to avoid the long lines, but was not really a status thing. Although most people that never experienced one of my nights most likely assumes all clubs in Hollywood are the same, my events have always intentional been different, for we don’t just celebrate money and lifestyle, we celebrate life itself! If you got a good vibe, a few bucks in your pocket, you look clean, you will have the time of your life with many one people!

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
I think people most misunderstand about my legacy, is they try and make it about me. It’s never been about me. It’s always been about creating a safe loving environment that every race, nationality of people can make their own, no matter what religion or differences. I have always loved conscious music that makes your spirit feel good, satisfies your soul and makes you feel like you’re on a vacation. Wither I’m Mcing, DeeJaying Or just having a good time dancing and vibing out at my party, we make it about everyone at the dance. The regular, the girl that came by herself for the first time, the performer that has been waiting a whole month or more to perform, the bartender that has a line of thirsty people looking at them, the security guard that has to deal with someone who drank to much and didn’t eat, the Jamaican food caterer that is running out of food faster then expected, its a family affair. As we pray for everyone to enjoy tonight to the fullest and make it back home safely. Jah Love And Light!!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://PoomPoomTuesLA.eventbrite.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RealQBwoy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/Quie-Anthony-6290771a/
• Twitter: https://x.com/qbwoy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QBwoy33
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LAReggaeclub

Image Credits
Richard Burton @LAoffTheHook_Tv_