DJ Quik

Compton

DJ Quik was born David Marvin Blake on January 18, 1970, and grew up in Compton. He started DJing parties as a teenager and in 1987 made The Red Tape, a homemade tape he sold himself around Compton. The tapes got him noticed, and New York's Profile Records signed him.

Quik Is the Name

His debut, Quik Is the Name (1991), was self-produced and built on live-sounding funk: talk boxes, Parliament and Isley Brothers samples replayed and reworked, bouncing basslines. “Born and Raised in Compton” and “Tonite” made him a star. Way 2 Fonky (1992), Safe + Sound (1995), Rhythm-al-ism (1998) and Balance & Options (2000) followed, with his long feud with MC Eiht running through several of them, including “Dollaz + Sense.”

The producer's producer

Quik is also a trained engineer and mixer, and other producers regularly name him among the best musicians in West Coast rap. He produced for his Compton circle, 2nd II None, AMG and Hi-C, and made Suga Free's Street Gospel (1997) nearly by himself. His outside credits include 2Pac's “Heartz of Men” on All Eyez on Me and Tony! Toni! Toné!'s “Let's Get Down.”

Later work

He released Under tha Influence (2002) and Trauma (2005), the collaborative BlaQKout (2009) with Kurupt, The Book of David (2011) and The Midnight Life (2014), and made Rosecrans (2017) with Problem. He continues to produce and mix, and is regularly cited as a key figure in G-funk and Compton rap alongside Dr. Dre.