David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970),[3] better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper, record producer and DJ, 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. Blake's stage name reflects his ability to produce songs in a short period of time.[4] Some of his top songs include "Dollaz + Sense", "Tonite", "Born and Raised in Compton" and "Jus Lyke Compton."[5]
Blake was born on January 18, 1970, in Compton, California. He was inspired by funk and soul artists,[6] such as Roger Troutman (who taught him the use of the talkbox, which became a trademark for Quik's sound throughout his career) and George Clinton.
Blake began selling homemade mixtapes (notably The Red Tape, 1987) after he received a turntable for his 8th grade promotion. He began doing shows DJing around Southern California, many of which ended in rival gang-related altercations. He joined the Tree Top Piru Bloods, which he later regretted, stating that joining the gang "was the dumbest shit."[7]
At age 16 in 1986, Quik dropped out of high school, and his mother lost her home due to foreclosure. While she moved to Louisiana, Quik stayed in Compton and was homeless for a period of three years. He would later go on to say that after his success in the rap world, many of his family members "popped up."[8]
Career
Quik Is the Name
After gaining a mixtape following, Blake earned the interest of labels, including Profile Records and Ruthless Records. He signed to Profile Records in the summer of 1990, reportedly as the label's first six-figure signee.[9] Blake later regretted his contract, and was offered an advance of one million dollars by Eazy-E.[10] Profile Records sent cease-and-desist letters to Ruthless Records.
His debut album, Quik Is the Name, was released in 1991. The album was led by the success of his two top 20 R&B singles, "Tonite" and "Born and Raised in Compton." The album ended up being number 10 on the album charts,[11] and was Platinum by the RIAA.[12] None of his successive albums reached the success of his debut, though they have been well received. He went on to produce 2nd II None.
Way 2 Fonky
He released his second album, titled Way 2 Fonky in 1992. It was certified Gold by October 9. It included the successful singles "Way 2 Fonky" and "Jus Lyke Compton." The year 1992 would also see him produce (along with Eazy-E) on Paid the Cost, the debut album by rap duo Penthouse Players Clique.
Safe + Sound
Before recording Safe + Sound, DJ Quik had previously scrapped an album, which he said was so horrible that he had to smash the masters.[13]
As DJ Quik began to work on his third album, he started working with Suge Knight again. Their relationship dates back to 1988, before he sought refuge with a major label. He was signed to Suge's independent label, Funky Enough Records, in 1988.[14][15][16] The arrangement proved to be short lived. They linked up again in 1993 for another short-lived arrangement.
His third album Safe + Sound, released in 1995, reached number 14 on the Billboard 200. It featured friends 2nd II None, Kam, Playa Hamm and Hi-C. The album features the singles "Dollaz & Sense" and "Safe + Sound." During the process of the album, Quik was feuding with rapper MC Eiht from Compton's Most Wanted and long time friend AMG. Today, he is on good terms with MC Eiht.
Quik played a part on the Tupac album All Eyez On Me, though he is only credited for producing "Heartz of Men" on that album (in the credits he used his real name, David Blake, because he was under contract with Profile). He also did additional production and mixed half the album in over two days.[1] Quik made another uncredited appearance on a song with Tupac named "Thug Passion." He also produced on the albums Dogg Food and Tha Doggfather, although he received no credit. DJ Quik later went to say that he had some of the best times of his life when he worked with the label.
Rhythm-al-ism and Beyond
In 1996, Quik produced a track on House of Music, by Tony! Toni! Toné! The success of the Quik-produced single "Let's Get Down" prompted House of Music to sell over 1 million copies. He also worked with Shaquille O'Neal on his You Can't Stop the Reign album. DJ Quik later discovered Suga Free, a pimp turned rapper in 1997.[citation needed] Their relationship saw Quik serving as the producer on his debut album, Street Gospel. It reached number 27 on the Billboard R&B albums chart.[17][18][19] The album fell short of commercial expectations, but was praised by many underground rap fans in California, and is seen as a "street classic" by many of them. The DJ Quik production on this album was considered to be refreshing compared to the stereotypical West Coast G-Funk sound that had dominated most of the early 1990s, as he incorporated elements of jazz, funk, rhythm and blues, and even rock and roll to create instrumentals that caught the ears of many listeners. It was recorded in a record of 28 days.
In 1998 Quik released Rhythm-al-ism, his fourth studio album on Profile Records. This record was certified Gold in 1999, and contained the singles "Hand in Hand (featuring 2nd II None and El Debarge) and "You'z A Ganxta." It featured guest appearances by Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, AMG and Suga Free. That year he went on to produce for The Luniz, Shaquille O'Neal, Deborah Cox and Jermaine Dupri. He also produced on The Kingdom Come by rapper King Tee which ultimately never came out due to label problems. He also faced personal and professional tragedy when his nephew murdered his close friend and protégé Darryl Cortez Reed in 1998. In 1999, there was the release of Classic 220 by 2nd II None, in which Quik played a huge part, along with production on Gap Band's Y2K: Funkin' Till 2000 Comz album, Snoop Dogg's No Limit Top Dogg, Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 and Deep Blue Sea (soundtrack). This was compounded by the death of another friend and rapper Mausberg, who was subsequently murdered in 2000. That year, saw the release of rapper Mausberg's album and DJ Quik's Balance & Options. Also production with Whitney Houston, Erick Sermon, 8Ball & MJG, Xzibit and AMG.
After the lackluster sales of only 400,000 units of his fifth album, he was dropped by Arista Records, which had bought Profile Records. He produced for Kurupt, Big Syke, Janet Jackson, and Won G. He produced on Made (soundtrack) in 2001. That year also saw Suge Knight try to get Quik as the in-house producer for Death Row Records. In 2002, he released Under tha Influence under Ark 21 Records which sold only 200,000 units. He also produced Truth Hurts' only Top 10 pop hit "Addictive" that year. However, he had sampled a Hindi song by the name "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" originally sung by the legendary Hindi singing prodigy Lata Mangeshkar on the record, and the copyright holders Saregama Music eventually filed a $500 million lawsuit against Truth Hurts' label, Aftermath Entertainment, that was amicably resolved by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. The song instrumental was sample in the Jamaican dancehall beat "Bollywood Riddim." DJ Quik also produced and appeared on another track on Truth Hurts' debut LP, Truthfully Speaking, titled "I'm Not Really Lookin."[20] He worked with Talib Kweli, Will Smith and Shade Sheist that year.
Record problems and a plethora of others almost prompted Quik to retire. The album The Best of DJ Quik: Da Finale was originally going to be his last release. He later stated:
I just couldn't escape that contract. Basic contracts are supposed to be like 6 or 7 years, or 1 year with like maybe 6 options. The contract I was in was like a 10- or 11-year contract. I wasn't getting paid and I wasn't happy at all. And plus I was going through a bunch of shit.[21]
In September 2005, DJ Quik released his first independent album on his own new label, Mad Science Recordings. The album is titled Trauma and reflects the turmoil in the producer's "musical" life over the past few years. It was considered an independent success and has sold over 100,000 copies.[22] In recent years he has worked with a 74-piece orchestra while working on the score to the movie "Head of State" with Marcus Miller.
On June 21, 2006, DJ Quik was convicted of assault on his sister and sentenced to five months in prison.[23] The incident occurred in 2003, when he allegedly "pistol-whipped" her for extorting him, according to police reports. He was released early in October 2006. He went on to say that prison sentence gave him time to reflect on his life, and he later began getting rid of extra baggage.
In late 2007, DJ Quik and AMG formed the group the Fixxers. Along with the formation of the duo, he dropped the "DJ" from his name for the upcoming album and rapped as "Quik."[24] In March 2007 they signed a single deal with Interscope Records for the release of their album Midnight Life and promoted it with "Can You Werk Wit Dat?"[25] However, the album was scrapped due to unauthorized actions by Hudson Melvin Baxter II (also known as "Hud"), who illegally put it up for sale on the internet in December 2007. The album was then spread across the Internet as a bootleg. In February 2008, Quik finished up mixing and producing for Snoop Dogg's new record Ego Trippin. In the process of working with Snoop Dogg, a production group called QDT was formed. It stands for Quik-Dogg-Teddy and consists of DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg and Teddy Riley. A collaboration album with Tha Dogg Pound member Kurupt, titled BlaQKout, was released June 9, 2009.[26]
Kurupt confirmed in a 2011 interview with HipHopDx.com that "next year, we will be working on our next album together, DJ Quik and Kurupt. Every year me and DJ Quik are gonna drop us one of these slizzappers!"[31]
Snoop Dogg joined forces with DJ Quik, Battlecat, The D.O.C. and others to create four songs for Dr. Dre's Detox. According to Snoop, two of those songs would be solo cuts for Dre while the other two would be collaborations between Snoop and Dre. Two videos were released, both featuring all of these artists collectively working on the project and discussing the need to release quality work.[32]
Rosecrans EP, and later album
In April 2016 Quik released a collaboration EP with fellow Compton rapper Problem. The EP included features such as The Game, Wiz Khalifa and more. On April 20, 2017, they released the Rosecrans project into an full-length collaboration album with extended features and extended songs.
DJ Quik got involved in a long tumultuous rivalry with fellow Compton rapper MC Eiht and his group Compton's Most Wanted that lasted for six years. The feud traces back to a track on DJ Quik's debut mixtape The Red Tape, in a line by Quik that was seen as indirectly disparaging N.W.A and directly disparaging Compton's Most Wanted.
To the Top of the Tree/ For CMW to see
During that time, Quik was a member to the Tree Top Pirus and Eiht was a member of the 159th St. Tragniew Park Compton Crips. On the track "Def Wish" from CMW's second album Straight Checkn 'Em, is the line, "Bittin' me quick, you can get the duck sick quick...". Fans of both artists assumed that to be a disparagement of Quik. With the misconstrued feud gaining momentum, Quik respond to CMW's diss in his song "Way 2 Fonky". CMW responded months later with a music video for Def Wish II that featured a DJ Quik lookalike having a surreal nightmare of CMW chasing & ambushing him leading to him getting killed. Quik responded to it with "Let You Havit", mentioning the Compton's Most Wanted music video, while facing label problems and had other music projects. Eiht had then responded with Def Wish III, leading to the high point of the rivalry. However, on the soundtrack to the 1994 short film Murder Was The Case, on the track "Dollaz + Sense", Quik ruthlessly verbally attacks Eiht, calling him a movie script killer (in reference to Eiht's appearance in the critically acclaimed 1993 film Menace II Society), a coward, and more. Quik fanned the flames by performing the song at the 1995 Source Awards in New York City. The feud stayed quiet until April 1996, when Eiht responded to Quik on his second solo album Death Threatz which featured Def Wish IV (Tap That Azz) which was the last diss track of their feud. The feud between Quik and Eiht slowly faded in 1997 following the deaths of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., but did not actually end until 1998, where Snoop Dogg, Daz Dillinger, and other West Coast rappers helped Eiht and Quik reconcile. Since then, Quik and Eiht have collaborated on various songs. It has been considered by hip hop fans and critics as standing out as one of the longest active hip hop rivalries – from 1992 to 1998.[33] Quik and MC Eiht appeared in an interview on July 21, 1999 on BET Tonight.
Death Row Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and 2Pac, during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row was making over US $150 million a year.
Delmar Drew Arnaud, known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz, is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label in pioneering West Coast hip hop and gangsta rap for mainstream audiences. Alongside Kurupt, he formed the hip hop duo tha Dogg Pound in 1992, with whom he has released eight albums.
Tha Dogg Pound is an American hip hop duo made up of West Coast rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were signed to Death Row Records in their early careers and were key to the label's success.
Aaron Bernard Tyler, better known by his stage name MC Eiht, is an American rapper. Many of his songs are based on his life in Compton. His stage name was partly inspired by the numeral in KRS-One's name. He chose Eiht for its links to "hood culture", including Olde English 800 and .38 caliber firearms. He is the de facto leader of West Coast hip hop group Compton's Most Wanted, which also included fellow Compton-based rappers Boom Bam, The Unknown DJ, Tha Chill, DJ Mike T, DJ Slip and Ant Capone. He is also known for his role as A-Wax in the 1993 film Menace II Society, as well as playing the character Ryder in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Compton's Most Wanted (C.M.W.) is an American gangsta rap group and part of the early West Coast hip hop scene. The leaders of the group are MC Eiht and Tha Chill.
Dejuan Walker, better known by his stage name Suga Free, is an American rapper.
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.
Way 2 Fonky is the second studio album by American hip hop artist and producer DJ Quik, released by Profile Records on July 20, 1992. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1991 and 1992. Production was handled by DJ Quik and was executive produced Courtney Branch and Tracy Kendrick.
We Come Strapped is the debut studio album by American rapper MC Eiht. It was released on July 19, 1994, through Epic Street. Recording sessions took place at X-Factor Studios in Long Beach, California. Production was handled primarily by Compton's Most Wanted members MC Eiht and DJ Slip, except for one song, "Compton Bomb", produced by Ric Roc. It features contributions from William "Willie Z" Zimmerman on the keyboards, Josh Achziger on guitar, Carla Evans on vocals, and guest appearances from rappers Redman and Spice 1.
Craig A. Miller, better known by his stage name Kam, is an American rapper known primarily among hip hop fans and music critics during the 1990s and early 2000s.
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.
Vernon Johnson, professionally known by his stage name Tha Chill, is an American rapper and record producer. He embarked on his music career in the early 1990s, as a co-founder of the Compton-based West Coast hip hop/gangsta rap group Compton's Most Wanted, along with frontman Aaron "MC Eiht" Tyler. During his childhood, Johnson dropped out of high school and hooked up with neighbourhood friend MC Eiht, to form the group.
"New York, New York" is a song from the American West Coast hip hop duo Tha Dogg Pound featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg. The song was released as a promotional single and is the lead single from their debut album, Dogg Food.
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.
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.
Jason L. Martin, formerly known by his stage name Problem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Compton, California. His debut extended play (EP), Understand Me was released in December 2013. He is best known for his 2013 single "Like Whaaat", as well as his guest appearances on E-40's 2012 single "Function," and Childish Gambino's 2013 single "Sweatpants."
"Pimp Slapp'd" is a diss song by American West Coast hip hop recording artist Snoop Dogg, taken from his sixth studio album, Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$ (2002).
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