One moment he's dropping confrontational funk banger "Fuck Y'all", stable hip-hop head comfort food. BlaQKout's narrative is one of surprise and variation, of creating one set of expectations, then pulling the rug out from underneath the audience one track later. At some basic level, Quik bonds easily with his audience, letting his guard down, expressing himself with uninhibited honesty.Īs a producer, Quik understands that making quality rap music isn't about banging out minor variations of a signature style.
His confessional, endearing lyrics are like bar conversations with strangers where, after a few drinks, you start offhandedly spilling personal anecdotes to each other like old friends. He's also a schizophrenic lyricist, unafraid of imagery that seems out of place or contradictory to the overall mood, his charismatic charm rescuing verses that should undermine him conceptually. Quik, on the other hand, is consistently literal, dealing in the concrete with memorable, loosely connected run-on raps. Kurupt seems so committed to the idea of saying not that much in a very complicated way that it's utterly compelling. Although he continues to bring both styles to the table, BlaQKout finds the Dogg Pound member embracing his rap-for-rap's-sake lyrical experimentalism wholeheartedly. Kurupt's career is similarly undervalued, albeit on a smaller scale a rapper raised in Philly and famous in L.A., he bridged the cerebral, technical detachment of the East Coast with the West's gangster swagger and confrontational demeanor, before blasting off in more avant directions for his 2001 record, Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey. But what makes this riskier record successful is also what makes it cohesive: it is a very fun album. Each track feels unique the producer sounds eager to push his own internal boundaries and subvert his stylistic quirks. His latest record, a joint effort with Dogg Pound rapper Kurupt entitled BlaQKout, finds the producer at his most creatively restless, forgoing the comfortable up-tempo dance beats of his late-90s peak for a style much more difficult to pin down. Quik's music feels increasingly undervalued being known as the ultimate "underrated" West Coast rapper-producer has become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. DJ Quik's two-decade career has established him as one of the genre's great recording artists, but his maturation from teenage Compton DJ to a complex embodiment of California post-gangster party rap doesn't have much cachet in a hip-hop history that celebrates only winners. His best work has always come from his own albums.Rap history is biased towards royalty, whether you're the king of your block or the King of the South. Weakness: Even though DJ Quik has produced tracks for the likes of Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and 2Pac, his catalogue outside of his own work is limited. Lineage: AMG, Suga Free, 2nd II None, Hi-C, Mausbergįive Classic Songs: "Born and Raised in Compton" by DJ Quik "Tonite" by DJ Quik "Dollaz + Sense" by DJ Quik "Heartz of Men" by 2Pac and "Pitch In On a Party" by DJ Quik. Signature Sound: Live instrumentation Crisp drums Funk aesthetic Mixing and arrangement Layered sounds But regardless, the Compton native has a classic catalogue, including his genre defining debut, Quik is the Name, and standout albums, Way 2 Funky, Safe + Sound, and Rhythm-al-ism. It's almost sad that Quik has always been overshadowed by fellow West Coast producer, Dr.
While he's never been the most popular or celebrated, few producers can match Quik's aesthetic - live instrumentation rolled into an eclectic mixture of funk, jazz and R&B. Banging track from underrated West Coast Hip-Hop veteran DJ Quik and Nate Dogg.Īccomplishments: DJ Quik might be the best musician hip-hop has ever seen.