Interview: Get to know the REAL Funky Dineva

By : Taylor Savon

“My hair is layed, HUNTY!!!” Said by none other then the FABULOUS FUNKY DINEVA! Some of you might not know who I am talking bout when I say that, but after reading this you will and you will want to know more, more about the man behind her. I am going to let you in on something …. There is way more to him then what meets the eye.  I want to introduce you to the man behind Dineva….Quentin Latham.

TBUT: So, I had a friend back in Colorado that showed me a video of you and ever since then I been a fan. You know the one about Château Sheree. Just COMEDY!!! How did you get started doing the blogging and the videos?

QL: Believe it or not, blogging was not the first, actually the videos were first. I had no intention of becoming a blogger. Blogging really isn’t my passion but it something that seems to be the next step with the character. Because Dineva is messy, naturally it seems like she would have a blog to coincide with the videos.  I started to blog a year after I develop the character. I hooked up with Michelle Brown with Straight from The A and we develop a genuine friendship .Just from being friends with her and learning some tricks of the trade with blogging and learning how lucrative it could be I said, “Well hmmm you may want to start a blog for the fans, to bring them to video to video”.  I didn’t start off as a blogger. Blogging was not my focus. I still wouldn’t call myself a blogger.

TBUT: Well the videos are great and the character is so funny, how did you come up with the character?

QL: Well Funky Dineva started off as a huge, huge, huge, HUGE prank/ mistake.  Now the name funky Dineva was always in my head. A friend of mine from college, my best friend, we would always talk about writing books or writing plays. We would get together on the phone a write a play with five characters and one of the characters her name would be Funky Dinvea. We did have personality types for all the characters. So Dinvea would be the outspoken. She is young hip girl that is ghetto but smart. So what happen,that name has been in my head at least 7-8 years. In 2010 some friends and I went out for Halloween as women.In December I was cleaning out the basement and found the wig I had for Halloween .I put the wig on and I was taking a break from cleaning. So I took my Iphone and looked in the mirror and just started to play around just saying, “Yessss Hunty,Yesssss Hunty. MY HAIR IS LAYED HUNTY!!!” Just playing around, and the video gave me a chuckle. So I called one of my friends and told him I was going to upload this file on my YouTube account. He looked at it and thought it was so funny. I told him I was going to take it off and he told me to hold off he wanted to show one of his friends. Next thing I know within 10 minutes he put it up on Facebook. I called him going off, like why would you do that, my co workers are on there, my mom, my dad, my friends, but he thought it was just so funny. But I am the type of person once something is up and the phone calls are going around makes no sense to put it down. So I started getting mixed reviews. So from there people already seen me in this light let me go ahead and keep on journaling. In the very beginning Dineva was a journal for me. I spent the first 10-12 videos chronicling things that were going on in my life.

TBUT: I can tell just talking to you this short amount of time that you and Dineva are different and that is just a character for you.  With that being said when will we see the real you on reality TV?

QL:  (Laughing) You know….I don’t know. Right now we are formulating what would be the best route for Quentin Latham, what is the best route for Dineva and do the two worlds need to come together. Kandi and I have been in talks about that. A lot of people do need to see Quinton. I just don’t know right now if the Dineva brand is strong enough yet. I have done some Atlanta Housewives as Dineva and I done Love and Hip Hop as Dineva. I don’t know what we are going to do with Quentin yet, but I am dying to get the man behind the character out. So people can have an understanding that Dineva is just a character and not some ratchet, gay queen walking around Atlanta many people want to believe.

TBUT: What to you find interesting about Funky Dineva and her audience?

QL:  Those that are enlighten or well read, they can really pick up on the PERSON behind Dineva is really an interesting person. So Dineva really knows her shit.  Dineva is very well read; she can give you Langston (Hughes) ,she can give you Nicki (Minaj), she can give you politics. So it takes a well read, and a more enlighten person to really get her humor. The one thing I love about her is her dualism. On the front end she is ghetto and she ratcheted, and that appeals to that market. So they are just laughing at the surface. For those that are a tad bit more enlighten they can go beyond the outer appearance and really get the gag and the wit and how clever the humor is.

TBUT: Switching alittle to some semi serious questions. Since it is the election year I wanted to ask, have you decided who you are voting for?

QL: Yes, I am voting for Obama.

TBUT:  Now for you what are some issues that are close to your heart?

QL : Some of the greater causes that I really rally behind are anything that has to deal with children. If little kids come knock on my door and say they are raising money for child abuse, I will give them everything I have. My number one cause is Gay Rights. That is something close to my heart for obvious reasons. That is the one thing I really support. With all the things going on in the election, we all have that one component that really touches us the most. The critical thing that is moving me is what is going on with Civil Liberties for everyone. So if I have to say what is the one reason why I am voting for Obama it would be he supports that one cause that I am truly about.

TBUT: Someone that might be reading this might be having problems coming out. Can you let our readers know how did you come out to your parents, friends, anyone?

QL: So I always have a very small close knit group of friends that already knew. After I graduated college in 2005 I said to myself that I am not going to voluntary divulge that information to my parents, but if they ask me I will tell them the truth. Shortly, a year after I graduated college my mother just asked me, and I told the truth. She cried, and we had our heart to heart. But it was at that very moment I was set free. From there I just started living my life and people just picked up on it. I will say it was a very, very hard evolution to get to a point if someone asked if I would even tell the truth. Believe it or not I just told my father 3 weeks ago when I went home. My father said something to me that was so healing. He said, “I honestly wish you would have told me that along time ago because you were walking around carrying a burden that you didn’t have to carry.” That truly made me feel good.

TBUT: Thank you so much for sharing that. It is so important for our young people to know its ok to say who and what you are. So again switching gears, do you really watch all those shows?

QL: In the beginning no, I just watched the ones I would naturally watch. Now Real Housewives of Atlanta is what really pushed me into that reality TV review lane. I live in Atlanta, and I really do love that show. So when that show went off I put myself in that review lane, I had to see what I was going to review next. Love and Hip Hop of Atlanta was another show that sparked my interest. Well after doing two shows, following Love and Hip Hop so closely, and working with VH 1, I kind of put myself in this lane to keep doing the reviews. Some of them I do because I really watch it but others just feel like work. Like watching the Braxtons feels like work, I can take or leave them. R & B Divas is cool but it never truly gives me enough to do a review, TI and the Family Hustle is so family oriented and I have a policy not to talk about kids.So some is passion but I do make it my business to see what the people may like.

TBUT:  Some of us seen you on Love and Hip Hop Atlanta reunion show. How was that REALLY behind the scenes?

QL: It was crazy…. It was CRAZY (Laughing). That was my first glimpse at how major television is put together. It was an awesome experience with the people out at VH 1.It also made me realize that we as the viewing public, we get so emotionally involved with these people on these shows. I have witness people getting into arguments about these people, and you really know nothing. The viewer knows nothing. You got your feelings caught up in edited, semi scripted stuff. That reunion you guys saw took us 10 hours to tape and it was edited down to 2. There is 8 hours of stuff you did not see. They make stories; they paint stories to get the ratings.So being behind the scene it stole some of my joy, because I can’t watch it objectively. It was still a great experience.

TBUT: You still work with Kandi on Kandi Coated Nights?

QL: I am. I am signed to Kandi Coated Entertainment.

TBUT: Finally, other then you are working with Kandi, VH1, and V103. What else do you have planned for your future?

QL: We are in the mix of getting a semi permanent role on the radio station. So it is not far fetch that you will see Funky Dineva on television or YouTube type of produce show. We got the t-shirt line. We are looking to working with varies hair companies as some Brand Ambassador roles.

I want to thank Quentin Latham a.k.a Funky Dineva for taking the time out and letting our viewers get to know him. As a fan of Funky Dineva, I think after this interview I became a bigger fan because he was so down to earth. It was like talking to an old friend and just playing catch up.

You can follow Funky Dineva on Twitter at @FunkyDineva and make sure you visit www.funkydineva.com for new videos

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Visit me on Twitter: @MsTaylorS