Quentin A. Latham (pronouns he/him), widely known as Funky Dineva, may be perhaps, one of the most courageous personalities to emerge on social media, even before it had a name. He takes bold chances while not only living but thriving, in his truth, even when faced with extreme adversity. In this interview, Latham sets his famous, sometimes infamous, character aside and shares his story.
What aspects of Miami culture most profoundly influence your comedic style and worldview?
I was influenced by how ghetto and rachet Miami can be. In Miami, we have our own language, our own vernacular, our own style of dress, and our own code of ethics. And all of those things shaped me as a child. And then you take that attitude, and you go off into the world, you go to college, and you mix it, you know, with all the different things that you learn in the world, but you still view it kind of from that Miami lens. And it’s all of those things, the culture, the music, the vernacular, the outlook on life that really shaped the function idea of a character and the way that I view and approach the world.
Now, can you recount a specific moment or individual from your upbringing that significantly impacted your journey into the industry?
My mom. My mom, first and foremost, was just an extremely funny lady. She was the person who, whenever we would be at a public gathering, a party, or whatever, she would always be the one holding court. I remember being a kid and just looking at my mother in awe, because all the women around her formed a circle around her to listen to whatever it was she was talking about. Secondly, my mother was fearless in her speech, without regard for consequences.
And, you know, a lot of times that got her in trouble within the family and in other circles. But there was also a strength in that, because whenever someone was done wrong, or someone was looking for justice, or someone was looking for something to be made right, they went and got my mom because they knew that she would say it how it was, she wouldn’t hold back. And that’s just the character trait that I inherited.
I have tremendous respect for that. I think that’s something that’s lost in today’s society. What key milestones do you believe were pivotal in propelling your career to the forefront?
I definitely think it would be the Love & Hip Hop Reunion season one. And, you know, I’m very careful about things. I was the first person to ever do what I do. I’ll say this, if I wasn’t the first, I definitely was one of the first. When I started doing my videos on YouTube, there was no such thing as a social media influencer. Those words did not exist. That phrase did not exist. There was no such thing as a life of people sitting on social media and honestly making a living. I can’t speak about white spaces or other cultural spaces. But I honestly do believe that in the urban landscape, and in the black space, I was the first proof of concept that you can take someone from social media and put them on television and it translates. You see a lot of these influencers now getting big brand deals and doing TV deals. But I like to think that if I wasn’t the first; I was definitely one of the first. So, I have to thank Mona Scott Young and the VH1 organization. I definitely think the Love & Hip Hop reunion season one was the pivotal moment in my career that really solidified to myself and the viewing public that I had something here.
I love Mona. How has your approach to content evolved over time? And what factors contribute to maintaining authenticity while adapting to changing industry trends?
I guess the biggest thing that’s affected my content over time is just age. You know, as you mature, certain things just don’t excite you anymore. When I started, the foundation of my brand was reality television reviews. I don’t play in the reality TV space as much anymore because it just got boring, and over-saturated, and it’s much of the same. The beautiful thing with me as it relates to trends is that I kind of don’t focus on them because my audience has kind of grown with me. My audience has matured with me. My approach to making content is literally just speaking about things that are interesting to me. And nine times out of ten, they’ll coincide with the interest of my fan base. I have learned from some of the scandals that I’ve endured on this journey—what not to say, who not to say certain things about, what words to use, and so on and so forth. But overall, I think age and interest have been the biggest determining factor in my content creation.
In what ways do you leverage your platform to advocate and represent the LGBTQ-plus community?
By simply taking up space. I don’t make it a point to have to advertise, “Hey, I’m gay, look at me. I’m here,” because the hetero world doesn’t have to do that. But I make it a point, wherever I am, I don’t shrink myself. I just take up space. I think it was Kimora Lee Simmons one time that just spoke about taking up as much space as possible. And whenever I’m on the screen, I take up as much space as possible, because we’re here, I’m here, and you’re going to see me. And if you don’t like me today, by the end of the week, you’re going to like me. You know what I’m saying? And that’s just kind of my approach to things. I want to be honest with you.
I’m one of those gays who doesn’t feel the need to fly the gay banner everywhere I go. I just live, because ultimately, what we want as a community is not to be tokenized. We just want people to leave us the fuck alone and let us live. You know what I’m saying? Just leave us the fuck alone. Let us live and breathe and buy our groceries and go to the movies, just like everyone else. And so, I just take up space and just try to be an example of what it looks like when a gay person just lives out loud and lives their everyday life. That’s what I try to do.
I respect that. I think that’s definitively living in your truth. You’re not trying to be something, you’re just being you.
Listen, I am so many other things first before I’m gay. I’m human first, you know, I’m black second, I’m male third. I’m so many other things before you even drill down to gay. If, as a society and as a world, we could just focus on the human part, nothing else would matter.
I think that this interview is going to convey so much because I feel like I’m talking to you as an authentic person, not as a character.
I try, I try, because Ben, we are all just regular people. I think that, for me, authenticity has been what has kept me afloat all of these years. You know, I get it. A lot of people tell me, you know, I feel like I’m talking to a good girlfriend; I feel like I’m talking to my cousin, my best friend. And again, that’s another one of those traits that I got from my mom. We would just be in the mall, and my mom would just be at the cash register, waiting to check out, just talking like she knew these damn people, and she never did. It’s just something about that carried with me. If you can talk to people like a friend, and make them feel like they’re seen, and like they’re heard, you can form special bonds with people, and you can really change the world that way.
I think it’s a real gift to be able to connect on the most human level. Can you share some insights into your current projects, including your upcoming venture, Stirv It Up, and how these ventures align with your artistic vision and aspirations?
So, you know, right now, I’ve exited Fox Soul. You know, my contract was up, and I chose not to renew my contract. So, I’m actually pouring more of myself into my own YouTube platform, and, you know, kind of rebranding and going back. I’ve got two different TV projects that are currently in development. I can’t speak much about those just yet, but just know that those will be coming in early summer… Funky Dineva is everybody’s good girlfriend that you go to happy hour and get drinks with. And for years, I was saying to myself, my brand is so synonymous with liquor and partying and having a good time that I have got to do something with this.
And I was thinking to myself, the liquor market is a little over-saturated, and quite frankly, it looks a little challenging to get into the liquor market. Not to mention, you know, right now, I don’t think my brand is, or I’m big enough of a celebrity to come out with my own vodka or tequila. I think it would be a wasted venture. I said, but, you know, when I was selling my mugs, and when I would make a point in the middle of me doing my gossip, I’d be like, stirv it up, bitch, stirv it up. And I was like, oh, my God, this is a great idea. How can I play off of “serve it up”? And it hit me. I was like, Q, what if you just create these drink mixers, where all people have to do is add their favorite alcohol and serve it up? That’s all you have to do. It’s just that simple. You can have craft cocktails by adding one part liquor, and one part Stirv It Up mix, and we’ve got a party in a glass. And so that’s how Stirv It Up came about. And that, you know, it held. If you look at my Instagram, every other picture, I’m at a bar, I’m at a restaurant, I’m having a cocktail. So it just makes perfect sense coming from Funky Dineva.
That is brilliant. I like the hustle of it all. That’s dope. So how do you maintain a strong and meaningful connection with your fans?
Authenticity. It’s funny because, and I don’t mean for this to come off mean or rude, I don’t necessarily place the fans or what they want or what they would like at the forefront of my mind. I place my desires, needs, and wants first with the hope that other people will enjoy sharing in my journey. You know what I’m saying? So again, going back to that authenticity piece, I think my fans connect with my authenticity. And just as long as I continue being authentic, I think that I’m able to maintain a heart-to-heart connection with my fans because more so than connecting me, they’re connecting with the authentic energy. I think once you start pandering to the likes of people, that’s when you begin to look wishy-washy and people can tell it’s not real. So my motto is just kind of be myself, do me, and everything else will just kind of fall into place.
That’s great advice. Speaking of advice, what advice would you offer someone looking into becoming a content creator and building a brand, like a bold and fearless brand like yourself?
The first thing would be doing it for the right reasons, right? It’s weird because, again, I’m a content creator and I was one before this world even started, but we now have a generation of kids and people who have just forgotten about going to college, and traditional careers, and everybody wants to get into content creation because they just want to be popular. There’s this insecurity or this void within them. They just want to be famous or rich and don’t get me wrong, all of those things are great, but they’re byproducts of the talent and the authenticity. So the first piece of advice that I would give somebody is to get into it for the right reasons, all right, for the right reasons, because you genuinely want to, because you genuinely have something to say, because you genuinely have a perspective that’s not being shared with the world, because you genuinely have an interest in whatever your area is, whether it be cooking, parenting, gardening, celebrity gossip. That’d be number one.
Be’n Original
