Issue link: http://theflywire.uberflip.com/i/135317
it. Failure was not an option. He had learned at a young age, how quickly things could turn around. He says, "When life happens, it happens the same day. Here today, gone tomorrow." Here he was, 21 years old with a mortgage, several cars and only three months of severance pay to make ends meet. He uses the term "flat broke." He had $200 in savings and $100 in his checking account. He bought a new car every year from 16 to 21. QuickSilva stepped outside that day and said, "I've got all these cars out front and no money in the bank." He promised himself he'd never be in this situation again money wise. So far, 12 years later, he hasn't broken that promise. "I'm financially stable now... I've done smart things with my money. I'm still okay and my family's okay." A call from Lil Mo helped shape his future. She said I'm doing a tour, what are you trying to do? Quick said, with no job, no kids and no girl…the answer was clear. Yes. The tour got him national exposure and helped make the legend we know today. Quick was picked up by Pepsi. That was just the beginning of endorsements and recognition. He was hired by WPGC 95.5, where he spent five years. Being born and bred in Baltimore, the transition to neighboring D.C. wasn't nearly as easy as it seemed. Although the cities are just 40 miles apart, there might as well be worlds between them. The style, people and overall culture are different. WELCOME TO CHOCOLATE CITY "I can't come and act like I'm from D.C." said Quick. "I can't say "Joe" and wear HOBO. That's a clown, you can spot a clown a mile away." His first party was at Zanzibar. He admits he was struggling with the crowd, "The first thing I said was, 'Everybody that's NOT from D.C., make some noise!' The crowd erupted! Now I got some confidence. My boss told me not to say that again. I told him I know what I'm doing now." Don't come to D.C. trying to be D.C. It's like Manhattan in New York city, in downtown D.C. ninety percent of the people are not from D.C. They went to school there, got a job there but they're not Washingtonians. I said, "let me win over tourists...cause I'm a tourist." The method was ingenious and stuck. He even coined a new phrase. "I would never disrespect D.C. I'd shout out Howard, I'd shout out Baltimore cause they always support me. I started noticing a lot of people saying, 'Quick represents for the whole DMV.' It used to mean D.C., Southern MD, and Northern VA. I opened that up to be all of Virginia and all of Maryland including Baltimore. I started representing for the masses. Some of the hate started wearing off. I never claimed I'm from D.C. I show love but I'm from BMore. At The Flywire 40 the same time, I live in and love D.C. If you show love long enough people can't deny it." That ability to bring people together landed him a job on WKYS 93.9, where he's spent the last six years. It has also helped him win numerous awards locally, nationally and even worldwide. "Locally over the last ten years I think I've won every award I was nominated for. DMV's most popular, most in demand.. Fab Empire, Flywire, etc. On the national level, my most memorable was the 2006 East Coast DJ of the year. This was at the Power Summit where all the Big DJ's were guys I grew up listening to like Funk Flex, DJ Clue. I wasn't from New York, nobody thinks of BMore as having a huge DJ. I didn't think I had a chance of winning,"said Quick. HUSTLE, HUSTLE, HUSTLE HARD QuickSilva realized that he had enough support to make a name for himself in the competition. His friends and supporters took to email and MySpace with a campaign. You could only get one vote per computer, so a hustler at heart, Quick figured out how to get the numbers to work for him. For the next three months, he worked his plan. "Office buildings have hundreds of computers. My Aunt works at State Highway Administration. I went to her job first, I brought them lunch. I said, I need yall to vote and tell your friends and family. I did that for three months, anywhere I knew had a lot of computers I would just go. We used to send out message that said 'click here to see naked pictures of Beyonce. Then it'd say, HA! We got you, but now that you're here, vote for DJ QuickSilva.' I remember being there when they announced the categories… when they said East Coast DJ of the year….that five seconds he paused seemed like a year. I'm like just spit it out so I can know I lost already, then he said it, DJ QuickSilva! Everybody from DC and Baltimore started clapping, I said what the hell just happened? I won!" That was just the beginning, since then there have been awards upon awards, but he reached the ultimate goal when was chosen to get the Global Spin Award--the "Grammy" of DJing in 2012. Unlike the East Coast DJ award, the Global Spin Award was not chosen by fans, rather by peers. Some of the biggest names in the music industry, record representatives and label execs made up the academy. They decide who will walk away with the coveted title. There are DJ's nominated worldwide, not just urban, not even just American. He was up for Breakthrough DJ of the Year, it's someone who's been around, but this year has really taken off. "Puff introduced the whole Global Spin Awards… so that's major. 2012 Global Spin nominees are, they said my name. Sway from MTV announced the winner, he stands up 'The winner is…talk about well deserved, this guy's been putting in work, DJ Quick Silva.' When I say my heart fell in my foot, I couldn't move. My manager's like, 'get up, get up! You gotta go up there!' I'm sweating! I'm giving fives to legends on my way up. I look out in the crowd and I re-