| Blaqkout | ||||
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| Released | June 9, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008–2009 | |||
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| Length | 41:53 | |||
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| DJ Quik chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Blaqkout | ||||
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Blaqkout (stylized as "BlaQKout") is a collaboration album by rapper/record producer DJ Quik and rapper Kurupt. It is completely produced by DJ Quik. The album debuted at #61 on the Billboard 200,selling 10,000 copies its first week. [2]
While putting the finishing touches on Snoop Dogg’s acclaimed Ego Trippin album in early 2008,DJ Quik had an idea. The rapper-producer-musician-entrepreneur wanted to do a full-length album with Kurupt,the Dogg Pound member and Snoop Dogg affiliated-rapper he’d known since Death Row Records’mid-1990s heyday and had worked with sparingly over the years. [3] The inspiration for the name of the album was taken from the Method Man &Redman collaborative albums Blackout! and Blackout! 2 since this was also a collaboration album. It was modified to include the letter Q to represent DJ Quik and the letter K to represent Kurupt. [4] Kurupt revealed the album was recorded within 6 months. [5]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100 [6] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    2009 |
| The A.V. Club | (B+) 2009 |
| The Boston Phoenix | 2009 |
| HipHopDX.com | 2009 |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.2/10) 2009 |
| RapReviews.com | (8.5/10) 2009 |
| Robert Christgau |  2009 |
| Vibe | (Favorable) 2009 |
| URB Magazine | 2009 |
Blaqkout received widespread critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. Allmusic rated the album with 3 and a half stars and wrote Just like the similarly titled 2009 album from Method Man and Redman,DJ Quik and Kurupt's Blaqkout is a throwback triumph that succeeds thanks to the hip-hop veterans' superior chemistry and informal attitude. Anyone expecting a courageous game changer will be disappointed by all the swaggering,sexual bragging,and irresponsible pimping the duo frontload onto the effort,but coming to terms with the overall weekend attitude is quick and easy,thanks to rock-solid hooks and Quik's production. On "Ohh!" he creates a head-bobbing backing track out of chopped-up vocals and Smooth jazz keyboards,offering a G-funk alternative to Timbaland's "Indian Flute." Key track "Do You Know" finds him blending blissed-out ambience and a Soul II Soul hook,but "F**k Y'All" employs Quik's classic formula with that West Coast funk over thumping bass. [7] The A.V. Club rated the album with a (B+) and wrote DJ Quik has long been one of the most consistent producers in Hip hop,as well as a skilled (though sometimes ridiculously sexist) MC. But he’s seldom been in the lean,adventurous form he explores on BlaQKout,a collaboration with Dogg Pound member Kurupt. Quik’s tracks are head-turning throughout:The blistering single “9X Outta 10”features Kurupt at his steeliest and takes the minimal slam-beats aesthetic of Clipse’s 2002 hit “Grindin'”to a lush new place,especially when a couple of cut-up female vocals enter the mix. “Do You Know”is cinematic soul with his usual easy-gliding groove slipping around under it;“Ohh!”calls up early-’80s Zapp and early-’00s 2-step garage (more cut-up vocals);North African overtones spice the heavy stomp of “Hey Playa (Moroccan Blues).”The lyrics aren’t going to win awards for thematic originality,and there’s an especially egregious spoken-word bit poorly justifying the excessive use of the word “bitch,”but most of the time,Quik and Kurupt sound invigorated by each other. Or as Quik ends a verse in “Hey Playa,”in slow motion,“I’m that much quicker.” [8] The Phoenix gave the album 4/4 stars and wrote LA hip-hop has two threads,and DJ Quik pulls both of them. The first is g-funk,a production style that relies on deep,open grooves and an endless parade of funk samples. The second is West Coast backpacker rap,which is what happens when guys with enormous vocabularies smoke a lot of weed. The fact that Quik has inhabited both worlds for two decades is a pretty nifty trick:he can go "out there" without disappearing completely,and he can talk about problems in the ghetto without sounding as if he lived at the Gap. On BlaQKout,his collaboration with the Philadelphia/LA MC Kurupt,his sonics range far and wide. "Do You Know" has a glamorous sweep that suggests something like wise retrospection,and it leads right into "Watcha Wan Do," which could be the funky soundtrack to a Zelda game. Eventually,there's "9X Outta 10," which sounds as if somebody had handed turntables to the Terminator. This one has Kurupt rapping as if he were hypnotized —"It's gonna start again where it started at/Ended up,and restart again." It all might seem like preamble when you finally get to "Jupiter's Critic and the Mind of Mars," which may be the weirdest slice of rap genius since "A Milli." Quik has some of Prince's little-guy arrogance,and here it's nearly schizoid:"It's character,you miss it?/It's America,you visit?/Did you get on a boat without a ticket?" Uh,yes? What? This makes him sound crazier than he actually is,though. Quik knows what he's doing. You can hear it on every track of this symphonic mini-masterpiece. [9]
The album debuted at number sixty-one on the Billboard 200,selling 8,800 copies in its first week. [2] It also entered at number six on Billboard's Top Rap Albums,number eleven on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number nine on Independent Albums. [10] In its second week,it dropped to number one-hundred-ninety-one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 3,000. [11] As of April 24,2012,BlaQKout has sold 30,000 copies in the United States. [12]
BlaQKout appeared on several critics' year-end top albums lists. Rhapsody deemed it the 20th best album of 2009. [13] The album was also ranked at number 25 by Pitchfork Media. [14] The Factual Opinion ranked the album at number 15. [15]
Later DJ Quik said he's very pleased with the album:"I love Blaqkout. We only sold a measly 30,000 records,no marketing. No international distribution because Fontana doesn't have that,my distributor. That record was done for the sake of art. Not even hip-hop,just art. New gear,new Pro Tools system. New recording technique. New microphones,new samples. Let's go! If you don't mind,it's not going to be a gangster rap record. It's going to be eclectic,and avant-garde,and enigmatic and all this weird shit. It's just gonna be some funky new shit. He (Kurupt) was like,'Push the button.' Every time I pushed the button,we'd be in there quirk-ing out,funking out. And I kept my sound;it's still raw,still funky. At the same time,Kurupt sounds great,I sound pretty good I think. We did a record that is for the sake of music. It makes sense." [16]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "BlaQKout" | DJ Quik | 3:01 | |
| 2. | "Cream n Ya Panties" (featuring Tre Mak) |
| DJ Quik | 4:05 |
| 3. | "Do You Know" |
| DJ Quik | 3:28 |
| 4. | "Whatcha Wan Do" (featuring Problem and Yo-Yo) |
| DJ Quik | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Ohh!" |
| DJ Quik | 3:15 |
| 6. | "Fuck Y'all" (featuring Puff Johnson) |
| DJ Quik | 3:14 |
| 7. | "Hey Playa (Moroccan Blues)" |
| DJ Quik | 4:21 |
| 8. | "Exodus" |
| DJ Quik | 3:02 |
| 9. | "9x's Outta 10" |
| DJ Quik | 2:55 |
| 10. | "Jupiter's Critic & the Mind of Mars" |
| DJ Quik | 2:28 |
| 11. | "The Appeal" |
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| 3:37 |
| 12. | "Problem: The B Stands for Beautiful" |
| DJ Quik | 1:20 |
| 13. | "Whatcha Wan Do" (Alternative Version) (featuring Problem and Yo-Yo) |
| DJ Quik | 3:34 |
| Total length: | 41:53 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Bees to the Honey" |
| DJ Quik | 3:58 |
| Total length: | 45:51 | |||
Credits for Blaqkout adapted from liner notes. [17]
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Warren Griffin III is an American rapper, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s. A pioneer of G-funk, he attained mainstream success with his 1994 single "Regulate". He is credited with discovering Snoop Dogg, having introduced the then-unknown rapper to record producer Dr. Dre.
West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early to-mid 1990s with the birth of G-funk and the emergence of record labels such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre's Death Row Records, Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records, the continued success of Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and others.
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David Marvin Blake, better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper and record producer from Compton, California, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Tupac, Chingy, R. Kelly and Shaquille O'Neal, among others. As a recording artist himself, he is perhaps best known for his 1991 single "Tonite", which within the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100. Blake's stage name refers to his ability of producing songs in a short period of time.
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The following is a discography of solo production by DJ Quik.
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown, better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has released eight albums. He also formed the hip hop group The Hrsmn in 1996, with whom he has released two albums. His debut solo album, Kuruption! (1998) was released by A&M Records and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200.
Space Boogie: Smoke Oddessey is the third solo studio album by American rapper Kurupt. It was released on July 17, 2001, through Antra/Artemis Records. The album was produced by Daz Dillinger, Chris Arms, Damizza, DJ Lethal, DJ Quik, Jeeky Man, Jon B., Mike Dean, Soopafly, and Fredwreck, who also served as executive producer together with Joe Marrone. It features guest appearances from Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, DJ Lethal, Butch Cassidy, Damani, DJ Quik, Everlast, Fred Durst, Goldie Loc, Jon B, Lil' ½ Dead, MC Ren, Natina Reed, Snoop Doggy, Soopafly, and Xzibit.
All Eyez on Me is the fourth and final studio album by American rapper 2Pac to be released during his lifetime. Released on February 13, 1996, by Death Row and Interscope Records, the album features guest appearances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Redman, Method Man, Nate Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, E-40, K-Ci & JoJo, and the Outlawz, among others.
This is the discography of DJ Quik, an American hip-hop artist and Record producer. This list includes all of the official album and single releases, including his albums, Quik Is the Name, which debuted at No. 29 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and No. 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in 1991. Way 2 Fonky, which debuted at No. 10 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and No. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in 1992. Safe + Sound, which debuted at No. 14 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in 1995. Rhythm-al-ism, which debuted at No. 63 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and No. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in 1995. Balance & Options, which was his first album not to chart and not to receive a RIAA certification in 2000. Under tha Influence, which debuted at No. 27 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and No. 7 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in 2002. Trauma, which debuted at No. 43 on the US Billboard 200 chart, No. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, No. 9 on the Rap Albums, and No. 1 on the Independent Albums in 2005.
Terrace Jamahl Martin is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, the Game, Busta Rhymes, Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, Raphael Saadiq and YG, among others. Martin is a multi-instrumentalist whose music production embodies funk, jazz, classical and soul. Martin released his sixth studio album, Velvet Portraits, on his label, Sounds of Crenshaw Records, through Ropeadope Records.
Streetlights is the sixth solo studio album by American rapper Kurupt. It was released on April 20, 2010 through Pentagon Records. Production was handled by Terrace Martin, Lil' Jon and Pete Rock, with Rance serving as co-producer. It features guest appearances from J. Black, Problem, Terrace Martin, Snoop Dogg, Tone Trezure, Jah Free, Roscoe, Tri Star, Uncle Chucc, Virginya Slim, Xzibit and DJ Quik.
The Book of David is the eighth studio album by American rapper and producer DJ Quik, released April 19, 2011 on Mad Science and Fontana Distribution.
