The third installment of “Unsung Heroes of Christian Hip Hop,” an article series that highlights engineers, producers, managers, writers, and business people in the space, features Quinten Coblentz. Hailing from Hartville, Ohio it’s important he receives all of the acknowledgment he deserves.
Quinten Coblentz first gained traction as a producer, as he entered in the remix contest for Andy Mineo’s Heroes for Sale: Remix EP and was picked to be on the EP for the the “You Will” remix. He started producing, songwriting, and being featured as an artist for Dru Bex and Shai Linne, especially for the track “Startling Mystery.” He released his debut album Sahara on August 4, 2017.
He inked a deal with RMG Amplify at the beginning of 2019. He also released his sophomore album We and released multiple singles the same year.
2020 has been Quinten Coblentz’s breakout year. He dropped a collaboration EP with Deraj titled Neue Vintage in May 2020 and produced Byron Juane’s single “Afraid.” His biggest placement was on KB’s 2020 masterpiece His Glory Alone. He co-produced five tracks on the album, including the hit single “10K” and featured vocals on “The Name” and “This is Life.” He and Wes Writer also executive produced Byron Juane’s Promise I’m Not Crazy EP.
First off, who are you? Who is Quinten Coblentz?
Quinten Coblentz is a dude from Ohio who’s been blessed with the chance to do music professionally. I do production, singing, songwriting, and engineering – and love all of it!
What’s your favorite song you’ve produced and your favorite song as an artist?
Tough call, but KB’s “10K” and Byron Juane’s “Crazy” are two songs I worked on with my production/writing partner Wes Writer that I never seem to get tired of listening to.
As far as my own artist catalog goes, I’d say right now my personal favorite is probably “Stay.” I still get messages from people talking about how that song has impacted and encouraged them, which is always an amazing blessing to hear.
What was the process like for working on KB’s His Glory Alone?
It was a very collaborative process, which was amazing because I feel like I learned so much from working with such a talented team of people. We were able to do several in-person sessions in Tampa before COVID hit, and then we continued to fine-tune the songs remotely afterward. “Masterpiece” was produced 100% remotely, utilizing Zoom, FaceTime, and audio messages.
You captured merging worship and trap very well, how did that happen?
When I first found out that KB wanted to blend worship and trap for this album, and even interpolate some big worship hits, I was immediately excited. I grew up playing piano in church and have been a regular worship leader at my church for a number of years. I feel like my background with the genre – combined with Wes’ trap expertise, Cardec’s all-around skill, and KB’s vision and direction – made it fairly easy for us to find that sweet spot on the records we did together.
It was so much fun to take songs I’ve known for so long and do something completely fresh and energizing with them, but then also work on original songs that capture a similar spirit and feel cohesive on the album.
“10K” seems to be a standout on HGA, how did that track come about?
Wes and I were in the studio laying down production ideas and he suggested trying to do something with “10,000 Reasons.” I started playing the progression on the keyboard and he said something to the extent of, “Oh! Let’s start it pretty like that, and then bring in drums with nothing else except gang vocals!” It didn’t take us very long at all to lay down the drums, and then we just did a bunch of takes of us singing/shouting the “ohhhh”s you hear in the background of the hook.
We knew pretty much right away that the song was gonna be a hit, and once we heard what KB did vocally on it, there was absolutely no doubt!
Since you are an artist signed to RMG Amplify, are we going to hear anything soon?
Hopefully, yes! 2020 has definitely been much more of a production-focused year for me, but I do plan to drop a couple of singles again in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, you can check out the collabs I did this year with MSCMKRS (made for sync licensing but also meant to be streamed and enjoyed!).
Any advice for artists who are going to the producer and artist route?
I think it’s important to accept and make the most of the season you’re in. I’ve had seasons where I was hardly getting any work in production, but was getting opportunities as an artist, and vice versa. I’ve had seasons where I was mainly focused on mixing.
Sometimes we fixate so much on trying to create one type of opportunity for ourselves, that we miss other opportunities that are right in front of us. Learning to trust God and asking for His wisdom and guidance is so vital.
No matter what type of season you’re in, you can always continue to refine your skills and build genuine relationships, so try not to see any of your labor as a waste. There are things I’ve done as both an artist and producer that didn’t seem like a big deal at the time but eventually led to much bigger opportunities that I never saw coming.
Check out the transformation of KB’s track “The Name”:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFw4nO3ANci/
