In this episode of “People’s Party With Talib Kweli”, Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with rapper, songwriter, DJ, record-producer, and West Coast icon:
DJ QUIK
Here’s what they got into:
- The essential role that Quik played in the success story of Talib and Hi-Tek
- Quik’s approach of getting the best out of everyone while building in the studio
- Powering through a show the same night he took a spill off his motorcycle
- His Compton, California upbringing, and being the youngest of 10 kids
- Navigating the gang violence in community, trying to stay creative
- What made P-Funk so influential to the West Coast sound
- Being raided by the cops three times and tensions with his sister
- Never wanting to join a gang even though all his friends were Bloods
- The impact of his infamous ‘Red Tape’ sold locally before his record deal
- The genius and charisma of Eazy-E and his friendship with Quik
- Creating the Eazy-E tribute track, “Quikker Said Than Dunn”
- How the iconic track, “Tonite”, came together over a weekend of partying
- The signature “Quik’s Grooves” that became a tradition for years
- Quik’s love for St. Louis after making it a second home while touring
- Stumbling across Talib and Hi-Tek’s “The Blast” while on a mushroom trip
- A machine gun put to his face during a dispute over a 2Pac bootleg tape
- Performing the MC Eiht diss track, “Dollaz & Sense”, at the Source Awards
- Progressing to making “You’z A Ganxta”, and his ‘Rhythm-Al-Ism’ album
- Deciding to stop touring over having to wear bulletproof vests at shows
- Suge Knight having Pac and Quik to settle their differences in the weight room
- Suga Free’s cadence on stage and and connecting him to Richard Pryor
- Quik’s ‘Balance & Options’ and why he has a hard time revisiting the album
- The greatness of Tony! Toni! Toné!’s Raphael Saadiq and his conceptualism
- Finding out that D’Angelo is a beast on the basketball court
- Quik and Raphael Saadiq recording “Let’s Get Down”
- Recording to analog vs. digital and the magic of magnetic tape
- Using the natural reverb from claps in the bathroom for “We Still Party”
- Talib and Quik’s mutual love for A Tribe Called Quest and Ice Cube
- Quik’s chef hand and how he likes to hook up his Gumbo
- What we can expect next from DJ Quik
“People’s Party With Talib Kweli” is also available to give a listen via Spotify | SoundCloud | Google Play | Apple | Luminary