Come out and join DJ Quik at the Key Club Hollywood for a special holiday edition of Quik’s Groove. DJ Quik will have Stones Throw's Aloe Blacc and rapper Kendrick Lamar joining him for a very exclusive set. Make sure you start your holidays off right and grab some tickets to the show here!
As a special bonus, bring four (4) canned food items and receive a free DJ Quik CD.
DJ Quik recently brought together a small group for a private listening session at Wavaflow Studios in Los Angeles to preview Quik's upcoming new album 'The Book of David.'
DJ QuikThe Book Of David on Mad Science coming soon!
If your anywhere near L.A. you should definitely check out DJ Quik's Quiks Groove at the Key Club on Sunset. Running through DJ Quik's hits and a surprise or 2 at the show is certainly guaranteed.
L.A. Times: You haven’t released a solo album in nine years. What made you decide that the time was right now, and what made you turn to Terrace Martin to do the lion’s share of production?
Kurupt: Terrace and I have been working together for quite some time, and I felt he deserved the opportunity to produce an entire album. He brought the best out of me musically. I’ve always liked to work with one producer for my albums, from Dre to Daz to Soopafly to Quik. I got this idea for the record one night when I was leaving the club and I saw the streetlights go out one by one as I was driving home. I felt like it was a metaphor for life passing me by, so I went to Terrace and said that we had to make an album together to make sure that that didn’t happen.
L.A. Times: During most of the last decade, it seemed that a lot of veteran '90s rappers had trouble finding their own lane or even consistently releasing music. But over the last two years, it seems like yourself and a lot of your peers have returned to form. What happened and why the sudden resurgence?
Kurupt: I think everybody was going through something, I know I was. In a sense, it’s just life and you get upset, and you respond. Everybody seemed like they were going through a hiatus where they were trying to figure it all out. I was trying to figure out who I was in real life. No one likes to hear a real life story unless they can see it, or digitalize it, or be a part of it musically. Sometimes you go through a hiatus and you shut down and do what you do. I’d experienced a separation from myself, Ricardo Brown and Kurupt, the artist.
L.A. Times: What did you take away from that hiatus?
Kurupt: I learned that I had to raise my kids. I had to make music for grown folks. It’s made for the kids too but it’s made for the adults primarily. I don’t make music for 14-year-olds anymore. I’ve learned a lot from the experiences I’ve had in this ball game. I’m damn near 20 years deep. In the end, I learned that you have to be patient. It’s not always about the music, it’s not always personal, I had to learn how to separate the two.
L.A. Times: Your collaboration with Quik connected with a lot of people. What did you take away from working with him?
Kurupt: I learned that patience is a virtue, that it’s OK to take your time and allow artists to do what they want to do. Artists do their best work when they’re in a comfortable spot. With the Quik project, we knew that we wanted to go some other place, without samples and B.S. We knew that it would turn out big.
L.A. Times: Your name continually pops up on greatest rappers lists. If you were going to compile your own best rapper’s list, who would be on it.
Kurupt: Rakim and Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool, Ice Cube. Those were my favorites when I was coming up. (source)
In celebration of two milestones -- 10 years in clothing biz and 10 albums deep in the game -- Travis Barker, his Famous Stars & Straps brand and rapper Snoop Dogg rocked Los Angeles on Tuesday (December 8) with a mega-party where the West Coast was in full effect.
Celebrities like DJ Quik, the Lakers' Lamar Odom, Rob Dyrdek, Tila Tequila, Pharrell, The Game, Joe Budden, and Mister Cartoon among others, came through to support the huge achievement.
Everyone finally made their way into the event, had some drinks and mingled. Then, late in the evening, Snoop (drapped in a long gray trench coat) and Travis (Barker) (rocking a sleeveless Famous tee) finally made their way to the stage to treat the crowd to a medley of songs. When the DJ announced Snoop's arrival, he hopped on stage immediately with his now-classic "The Next Episode" with Barker right on que providing the drums.
Shortly after, the rapper called out for singer Butch Cassidy. "How many people in the house got love for my n**** Nate Dogg? You know Butch Cassidy is his first cousin, so we gonna do a little song from Nate Dogg. It go a little something like this." The beat dropped for Snoop's classic "Ain't No Fun" off his debut, Doggystyle, and the crowd went wild. Cassidy jumped right into the first verse, originally sung by Nate who wasn't in attendence.
As the performance continued, Snoop and Travis brought out a slew of their collaborators and other West Coast acts. At one point, Pharrell (of the Neptunes) graced the stage to assist Snoop with his hits, "Beautiful" and "Drop It Like It's Hot." Later, Game checked it, breaking right into his collaboration with Barker on "Dope Boys," before spitting an off the dome freestyle.
DJ Quik performed "Tonite," while Kurupt dropped a freestyle or two, in addition to rocking verses from several Snoop gems.
If you were in the crowd, you probably also noticed newcomers like Problem, Nipsey Hussle, Tyga, and plenty of others on stage just vibing, lending a verse here and there, and laughing alongside big Snoop Dogg.
They must have thrown a flashback disc on the radio at the spot where I ate before Snoop Dogg’s show Wednesday night. After hearing Soul Asylum, Train and Avril Lavigne, I was more than ready for some gritty West Coast thuggery, courtesy of Cordozar Calvin Broadus, aka Snoop.
I’m guessing that’s what the near-capacity Grove of Anaheim crowd wanted, too. Gangsta rap has always been about authenticity –- taking the shine off the overexposed, auto-tuned pop music of the day and replacing it with something more “real,” whatever that means.
The problem with the authenticity of living on the street is that it fades after years of living in a posh, gated community (just up the 57 freeway, in Snoop’s case). So the Doggfather’s live shows now juxtapose classic cuts from Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and his own auspicious debut, Doggystyle, next to lukewarm soul, the best example of which is probably “Sensual Seduction.”
On the plus-side, Snoop proved beyond a doubt that he is still a master MC; when he raps, there is nothing more interesting to watch. His flow is smooth -– nearly perfect, actually, coming across with finesse and effortless skill.
Nowhere was that more obvious and evident here than on “Gin and Juice (video above),” the fifth song of the night, capturing the rapper at his laid-back best. Indeed, when he’s good, Snoop is very, very good, and that’s what makes the slow moments so unbearable –- milking the crowd to say “hey” and “ho” until way after they stopped caring or rehashing the dull dance number “Candy (Drippin’ Like Water)” are moves that are beneath him at this point.
