Qwanell “Anthony Q” Mosley, formerly of the R&B group Day26 and the hit MTV series Making The Band, is back with a new music and a new attitude. Now going by the name Anthony Q, the singer/songwriter is now promoting his fresh ballad, Melody, that was released January 8th.

With his intoxicating vocal range and alluring star qualities, Anthony Q is geared to take a strong R&B lead. Industry critics and fans alike are expecting for Anthony Q to deliver nothing less than a spectacular musical collection and Anthony is guaranteeing nothing less with his project The New Prince Of R&B.

There was a little backlash from the fallout behind you being asked to leave the group. How did you feel about that? Did it catch you totally off guard and did you know it was coming?

When it all first happened yes, I was very much surprised about the whole situation. But now 3 years later I’m very happy, I’m making great music. I have two songs on iTunes right now, Melody and See Me.  It caught me off guard at first but now I think we’re all past that and we’re all just focused on our music. We all have a good relationship with each other now, and I’m in a very good place.

When you left to begin your solo career, why did you feel like you had to change your name and start going by Anthony Q as opposed to Q?

I figured everybody, all my fans knew me as Q and I wanted to do something different and recreate myself. I took my middle name and put it in front of the Q, and that’s how I came up with Anthony Q, but all my fans, they still call me Q. But technically, my name is Anthony Q now.

Now that you are a solo act, have you sought out any type of deal with a major, what about with Bad Boy?

No, I’m not under Bad Boy. We are doing everything independent right now. There’s a couple of major record labels that are really interested in working with me and signing me. But I’m not really able to speak on that yet. I’m only able to speak on the things I’ve been working on independently. And independently everything has been going great.

What would a major label have to bring to the table in order to entice you to sign?

A lot of money [laughs]! Mainly I’m looking for someone that’s going to take my career seriously. Whatever label we choose is going to have Q’s best interest in mind. Of course, I want to be able to make money.

What type of lessons would you say that you’ve learned from being in a group that are helping you become a stronger solo artist?

I feel that I’ve learned a lot of lessons. Just performing with the other four guys around the world I learned a lot about stage presence and singing in front of big crowds. Musically, working with different producers and songwriters I became very musically inclined. I was blessed to be able to perform on Good Morning America with the guys. That was a great experience. Being around Sean “Puffy” Combs I learned a lot about the business and branding. Making sure that you make your brand the best brand it can be.

I know that you’ve been influenced by more of the legendary artist such as Donny Hathaway. What are you going to be taking from the legendary acts that you can infuse in your own music?

I think mainly implementing that message and their story. How they talked about different things they went through in life and put it into song. That’s something that I want to be able to do.

Speaking of messages what personal aspects of your life do you want to convey in your music?

The message I want people to get from my music is that I want people to feel like they know everything I’ve been through. I want them to feel like the music is calming, smooth, and for it to be somewhat of therapy for the listeners. I want the listeners to feel like they just got a massage when listening to my music.

I know you’ve experienced some success digitally. How was that for you when you saw how well your music was received virally?

It was surprising. In the first 3 weeks we got over 500,000 downloads and hits just from Twitter. It was very surprising. I didn’t realize the amount of support I had and that people were actually anticipating my music. In the seventh week, we were over 750,000 downloads. To see how the numbers were climbing inspired me to want to really work at putting out my sound.

Tell me a little bit about what you’re working on now.

Right now we’re working on a new album. We want to put out like ten R&B songs and ten Pop songs. I feel like both audiences will enjoy listening to this album R&B, and Pop. There’s going to be some hot joints on there. If you’re a big fan of R&B music, then I’d definitely say you’re going to want to buy this album. 

What inspired your single Melody?

We were in the studio and my friend played this song. I was like, “Man, that’s hot!” And he explained the concept to me. Basically, the melody represents the women and I’m singing to the melody, but really I’m singing to the women because the melody represents the women.

Tell me about how your stage show has progressed as a solo act.

Well, if you’ve ever came to a Day26 show then you’ve seen a lot of dancing and stuff. Now, the show is a lot more up close and personal. It [the performance] is not so much dancing anymore, but more acoustic. People that have come to see me perform always say, “Wow, this was really nice”. I feel like it kind of leaves the audience wanting more.

Are there any features that you want to speak on as far as people that you’re going to be working with for the album?

Right now, I don’t have any major features other than a few people. I wanted to reach out to more of my local people and friends that do music. Sometimes it’s not all about having all big name producers and singers. Sometimes if you reach out to people that were coming up with you, you get a better sound. It will be a lot of upcoming artist and producers to come out with the best work.

So you know I have to ask, how are things with you and Dawn?

To be honest with you, Dawn and I are really tight. We are best friends. We don’t really like to talk about relationships. Well, I’ll speak for myself. I want people to focus on my music. I want people to appreciate Anthony Q. When people hear the name Anthony Q, I don’t want people to focus on any drama or relationship. But focus more so on, “Wow, that’s Anthony Q and we like his music”.

Do you think that you’ll ever step back into the arena of doing reality TV again?

I don’t want to do reality TV anymore. Not that the experience wasn’t great. But I want to be sure that people are focused on my music. I want to be taken serious as an artist. When people start seeing you on reality television they start to focus more on the personal and that’s not what I want. I want people to stay focused on the music.

Leave me with some final words for your fans.

I would just tell my fans that if you’re aspiring to be an entertainer, a doctor, a lawyer or anything, that anything is possible. Keep faith in yourself and keep pushing. With faith anything is possible.

- By Sha’Linda Jeanine