 Lil Scrappy | Diamond  |
It’s weird: Comfortable and hip hop kind of don’t go together. The whole thing is kind of like an oxymoron.
While fellow California producer Dr. Dre collected all the accolades as the legendary hitmaker for notorious Death Row Records in the early ’90s, DJ Quik was making music just as timeless—but only those closely following West Coast rap knew it.
Now, as his more celebrated counterpart is holed up in a studio putting the finishing touches on one of rap’s most anticipated albums, David “DJ Quik” Blake, 39, is producing and spitting with the same fervor he demonstrated when he first came into the game. And his status has only continued to rise. Scour the Internet, and you’re likely to see lengthy, fan-made compilations of Quik’s earlier work. Browse his production credits and you’ll note that he’s worked with everyone from rappers obscure (Rappin’4-Tay, anyone?) to immortal (Jay-Z).
Days before the release of Blaqkout (Mad Science), his incredible new joint album with Kurupt, Quik talked to VIBE.com about his new outlook on life and music, and putting out his latest project on his own dime.
DJ Quik: They do it for the money, they do it ’cause they’re like, Man, we need to get this cheddar. Maybe we can go out on the road and try to capitalize, man. We broke, we broke! [Laughs] Actually, I spent my own money on this project. This project cost me a pretty penny. It was something I wanted to do…I just, I love music.
What’s changed for you that allowed a project like this to come together?
I guess traditionally, historically most hip hop records, most West Coast hip hop records have a negative thing around them. Like, I can remember days when, I mean, I ain’t gonna point no fingers, I’m guilty too. There were days when we’d just been in the studio and have a gang of hoodlums around us, a gang of thugs, until one day somebody might start fighting and it was like, We should have knew this job was dangerous when we took it; bringing the streets into the music. Instead of doing the music like we did it before, doing it to have fun, so I think the difference is now we are all responsible for our surroundings. And Kurupt seems to be, to me, one of the artists that’s big, that has quelled his surroundings too, and it made it comfortable. And you know, its weird: Comfortable and hip hop kind of don’t go together. The whole thing is kind of like an oxymoron.
What was it like back in those early days?
I ain’t never been so scared in all my life [laughs]. Them motherfucking sessions used to scare me to my soul. When Suge Knight would come in there and dudes were following him, and these dudes ain’t got nothing to do with music. These dudes are ex-prisoners and shot-callers from thee ’hood, all the ’hoods. It’s like, Is this cool? Like, when we go to N.Y. it ain’t like that. We fuck around and be in the studio with Wyclef and Nas and Dave Chappelle and ?uestlove and everybody’s cool. Out here, there’s Don Don, and Killer Killer. [Laughs] It’s like, you can’t record in that environment.
When you’re producing a record and rapping over it, which is more important to you, the beat or the rhymes?
Honestly, as a producer, I always think of myself, lyrically last. I don’t think about writing to [the beats] when I’m doing ’em. I just think about the shuffle of them and the feel of them first. Like, “9x Outta 10,” that’s my favorite track on the album.
Why is that?
That’s my slap! It throws me back to the Spoonie G shit. Like, the Ice-T shit. You know, you gotta rock over the beat, like you gotta carry it. But I knew that the subject matter that I’ve always been writing about has been all party-driven, sexual, misogynistic, wild, you know? I knew it didn’t fit that beat so I gave [Kurupt] an opportunity. I was like, My nig, tell me what you think. I was a little nervous playin’ it for him, because I thought he thought it was a little too out there for him or even maybe too skeletal. He heard it, came in, and sat down. These sessions were cool.
Did the chemistry the two of you have in the studio surprise you?
It’s real hard to describe. The energy we had in the studio is what we captured on the CD. It’s a feel-good CD and that’s something you don’t get from two people with as spotted pasts as Kurupt and me. Like, they don’t understand. We’re not doing this to fool nobody, we’re doing this to just put some music out that feels good. It’s not like we’re trying to go pop, we’re not trying to hit the kiddy clubs. You know, that’s kinda perverted in a sense, know what I mean? We kind of gotta act our age and, at the same time, [Kurupt’s] been on tour with Snoop, and he was rehearsed. He was out there sharp and I stayed in the studio trying to be sharp.
Kurupt said the chip on his shoulder is gone, would you say that’s true for you, too? Are you settled with your legacy and what you’ve accomplished?
That’s the best question I’ve ever heard out of any interview I’ve ever done in my life because we’re always on the defense and shit in our interviews.
But you know, I gotta say that I’m really not even sure how to approach that question or answer it. Because in a sense I am, but a part of me feels like, Wow, did y’all not hear how we were producing in the past? Did y’all not hear similarities between our old stuff and Kanye’s new stuff? It’s just Kanye is doing what we were doing back then, when I was signed to Profile. Do y’all not here that? Like, what am I missin’ and should I take another career, because I know we followed the right templates. We listened to all the right music when we started producing. And it’s turning around. When I was about to give up, and I’ll be honest, I mean, I been through hell, literally. I’m glad I’m still sane. I done been through prison, stupid gang shit, and had so many people die next to me that I done had fucking PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]. And I would always swallow that shit and go do music, you know internalize that shit and do music, but I’m wondering now—in hindsight since you asked me that question—I’m wondering if that’s when people didn’t like me, and I was just regurgitating some of that bullshit into the music. I hope that wasn’t the case, because that wasn’t my intention.
Press play to watch the video for "9xs Outta 10" by DJ Quik and Kurupt from their album, Blaqkout
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