Published: Monday - September 19, 2005
Words by Jay Casteel
DJ Quik (Photo: Mad Science Recordings)
Who do you think of when the term "West Coast legend" is mentioned? You think Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and DJ Quik, among others. Quik is one of the original rappers to help mold the direction hip-hop music has gone toward today and helped bring the gangsta rap movement to the forefront of rap in the early 90's. His debut album, Quik Is The Name, is a classic and not only on the Left Coast, but in other regions of the country as well.
His track record has withstood the test of time and Quik is here today to talk about. With a brand new album, Trauma, which he calls his "perfect body of work," in stores now, Quik chopped it up with BallerStatus.com to talk about the hardships he had to endure over the past few years to get an album like Trauma out to the fans, where the West Coast is today and much more.
Read on as this Compton Veteran breaks downs label deals gone bad, why he titled his album Trauma for a reason, and why he is finally happy after over a decade long career in the hip-hop industry.
BallerStatus.com: First off, right now, with The Game doing it big and the recent West Coast conference, it seems that the West Coast is on its way back to the top. How do you feel about the West Coast's new found resurgence in hip-hop? And do you feel like the West is in the right position to take it back to where it once was?
DJ Quik: Yea, yea! Honestly, I love it. I think it is long overdue, so I think the work and the records we were all putting out during the time of our slump wasn't getting noticed because the public consent was that the West was done and over. They were like "Forget about it, it's a wrap." But, at the same time, we were doing some real important things even then, but I guess they were going unnoticed. What I did -- not on purpose -- was to see how my flow was in New York City, to see who I could build with out there and make good records and I did. I met a lot of people out there that I really like and appreciate what [the West] has done as a culture and know that [the West Coast] has to be appreciated by standards of other coasts.
But, it's obvious that after too long, we have to bubble up to the top again at some point, especially if everybody is digging back up. It's like don't throw dirt on me if we're not dead, you know what I mean? Again, I think it was too long in coming, but later is better than never. So, I'm happy; I couldn't be happier.
BallerStatus.com: You are one of the most respected West Coast artists. How much love do you get out here from the new cats coming up?
DJ Quik: Especially the ones who have been out there on the road and kinda gotten their feet wet in the industry, appreciate me a lot more for being a trailblazer of this crazy West Coast sound or this sound period. I think they appreciate me on that level because of the staying power. Some of my records, they grew up on and can remember, and I like to talk to them about how those records effected them when they were young. It's dope to me and I appreciate them too -- the Chingy's, the T.I.'s, the Jody Breeze's, the David Banner's, and the Lil Scrappy's. It's all love to me. And the Juelz Santana's and the Jimmy Jones' too, ya know?
BallerStatus.com: I know you get a lot of love from The Game, being you are from the same town. How do you feel Game is doing in helping to rebuild the West?
DJ Quik: Well, Game is dope first of all, so you can't hate. Game has a dope album, number two, so you can't hate. And number three; he's a triple threat because Game has one of the best teams in the business period. So, I think Game is a triple threat to anyone who refuses to recognize what we do as a coast. He pretty much brought most of the attention back here. He's something new, hot, dark, fresh and not what you would think of as your regional West Coast artist. He's just more worldly.
BallerStatus.com: I know you collaborated with Game before, and you have the track "Get Up" with game on the album. Are we gonna see more of you two together in the near future?
DJ Quik: Yea, well, I was on tour with him earlier this year. I went out and did his world tour early on and came home from the tour 'cause I had to start working on my stuff. But, anything Game wants from me, he gets. It's like we got a special, cool, normal friendship that's fine. All he has to do is ask and I'm there.
BallerStatus.com: I'm sure a lot of fans would love to see more of you together -- a legend with a new rising star is good for both of you.
DJ Quik: More so than linking with just the new cats, I've been building bridges back with my homeboys like 2nd II none. I've been working with KK lately. We're gonna be doing some new, surprising, cool, fun West Coast type sh--. People are gonna hear that in the next year or so.
BallerStatus.com: You just dropped your new Trauma album. Why the title?
DJ Quik: Really it's because I've been through a bunch of sh-- over the last couple years. That is one of the reasons I've stayed out of the lime light. I've just been dealing with a lot of personal stuff; there was a lot of turmoil going on in my life. When it all came to a head, I didn't deal with it the right way. I kinda dealt with it emotionally, instead of just looking at it as business. I kinda went off and kinda started to just hurt myself, homies started getting killed...it just got real nasty. The business changed and I wasn't really a part of it and I started to believe the hype like "Damn, maybe I am really over." As much as I've done for this Coast, as much as I've done for music and people can just forget about me? It's like I started getting outta control. I started drinking heavy, started crashing motor cycles and sh-t -- just hurting, ya know?
BallerStatus.com: Damn, so does the music on this album reflect the stuff you were going through in that era of your life?
DJ Quik: Yea. I'll put it to you like this: it's like since I did the album, I don't even trip anymore. It's like the album was therapy. It was done really quick, really smart, and all the guests were picked for every song and in most cases they did the songs on the spot, as opposed to "Here's the music, send me back your vocals." I went on the spot and records these records myself - engineered them, recorded them, did my vocals...you know, kicked it with T.I., kicked it with Wyclef and I kicked it with Game. Game came out to New York and did his record with me. How much of a culture clash is that? We did our record on my album together in New York City. Just doing different things and breaking the mold just to show people that California should be respected; not just for the car culture, the Hispanic and Latino cultures, but just as a musical power house. The most brilliant people move here from the East Coast because they see the potential.
And I wasn't angry on this album. The records I did before Trauma were a little mad, like Balance & Options and Under Tha Influence. I was just a little mad 'cause I was stuck in some looooong term contracts that I couldn't get out of because of how the deals were structured back then. I was in a contract what was like a "chew you up and spit you out" kinda idea where when the artist is done -- when the crowd isn't feelin' them anymore -- the artist is left in the cold to fend for themselves.
BallerStatus.com: You mentioned you had some very bad label situations in the past, how is your situation now?
DJ Quik: It's the best actually. I mean, if I waited 14 years for this, then it was definitely worth the wait. I'm being distributed by Fontana/Universal on my label, Mad Science Recordings. I have a real big amount of autonomy (independence) -- the most actually. It's more than I've ever had as an artist or producer. It's great. The people I work with and staff are dope. The people I surround myself with are dope. We just do dope sh--. It's magic time. The cool thing I think about this record is that it speaks for itself and it catches people off guard. I don't think people will expect this from me. When I play it for my celebrity friends -- Mack 10, Violet Brown -- they hear a certain amount of depth, rather than just expecting high-pitched Quik talking about pu--y. That's pretty much unheard on my other records. To me, this record was life or death. It's like I had to do this record to tell myself that I am still a trendsetter or still innovative when it comes to putting sounds together. That's what this record is; it's almost like a show off record. A lot of love was put into every song, and every song was thought of like a single.
BallerStatus.com: Well, good for you Quik. It sounds like you are really happy this time around.
DJ Quik: Thanks Jay, I really am. I had some hardships my man. I've lost some real good people. My friend is dead -- Mausberg. That is a great injustice to hip-hop too 'cause Mausberg was next. The dude was really talented. He didn't just have a West Coast sound; he could have blown up big man. He got murdered, so that was taken away. It just says something for that era of hip-hop, ya know? It was just totally deteriorating. It didn't help with our image of the West Coast either. It was like "Look, these motherf---ers can't get it together. They are killing within themselves." Not to linger on this, but Mausberg got killed during the Up In Smoke tour. With that said, I love my dude, I miss him. I just wanna continue to do great records in his memory. It's almost like from the other side, he won't let me do a bad record.
BallerStatus.com: Talk a little more about the new album and how it would compare to your past work.
DJ Quik: This album will blow right past you. It moves quickly, but it's not hasty. It's really thought provoking, it's really lush in sound, but it's not too busy. To me, it's like my perfect body of work in one album, as opposed to having to put together greatest hits to compile your perfect body of work. It's just a perfect body of work and it's unique in that in my other records it took over two years to do. It took a long time to do them 'cause we had to live with the songs, go through them and pick the keepers, change the line-up, etc. But, this record we started in November (2004) and it was done in like March (2005). It was just done because the records kinda just dictated themselves. It was just a fun record to do. I've never done a record that was that much fun to do.
BallerStatus.com: Your last album, Under Tha Influence, you worked pretty heavily with Dr. Dre, but you didn't work with him this time around, correct?
DJ Quik: Not directly. I mean, Dr. Dre was giving me pointers on things. I mean, who doesn't love Dr. Dre? When the good doctor talks we all listen. Let's just be honest. So, I was getting opinions from him and he would give me hints and pointers on what to do 'cause I still take his advice. The dude is f---in' dope, period. I appreciate him for letting Game be on my album; he could have easily said no. Not only did Game show up on the album, he showed out. He came through and dropped some really dope sh--.
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