thaFormula.com - How was Bungalo Records?

DJ Quik - That was a pretty terrible place.  Bungalo was like Subway Records or like "nobody in their right mind would trust us records."  Maybe it was part my fault to so I'm not gonna put all the blame on them.  I think they kind of just wanted a free ride.

thaFormula.com - How exactly did the Skanless crew come together to begin with?

DJ Quik - I met AMG through my friend and manager at tha time, Greedy Greg.  He was also managing AMG.  I met Hi-C and Second II None in school growing up in tha same neighborhood and going to tha same school.  It just kind of happened that we started making records together.

thaFormula.com - How did you guys end up hooking up with Steve at the Roadium?

DJ Quik - That was Hi-C's connection and he and Tony A were already doing mix tapes and stuff and selling them at the Roadium trying to get on.  They used to always run into Dr. Dre and NWA and then Dr. Dre and NWA blew up, so Hi-C kind of came behind them a little bit.

thaFormula.com - How did you guys come up with your ideas for the mix tapes?  I remember alot of that material on there ended up being on all of your guys solo albums.

DJ Quik - Well it was because of how much time we spent together.  Because we was always there we figured that if were not getting no pussy or eatin', then we need to record and document this time.  It was just an all around good time back then.  Everything was good.  Even if it rained, we still found ways of having a good time.  It's harder now because everybody is older and things are different.  Back then we were kids fresh outta school and just trying to make something happen.

thaFormula.com - I always felt that you guys were the first to blow up off of mix tapes and get album deals just off of that.  Do you feel that is why you guys blew up?

DJ Quik - Yeah.  Who would have knew about us if we would have put out a record before we had our little underground tapes out.  We call them underground tapes and still do.  Who would have fucked with us before our underground tapes you know.  We got signed off of those because we already had momentum and people knew about us.

thaFormula.com - When exactly did the beef with MC Eiht come along?

DJ Quik - It was like in the beginning when I first came out because I was a fan of CMW.  I just wanted to shout them out and they took it the wrong way.  I shouted them and NWA out and let them know that some other Compton cats were coming out.  Dre and Eazy didn't take offense to it, but I think Eiht and them might have.

thaFormula.com - What was your first reaction when they dissed you?

DJ Quik - Man I wanted to cry.  That shit hurt my feelings because we was trying to be peace with everybody and just have fun like we saw them having fun in their videos and shows.  CMW was the shit.

thaFormula.com - Yeah I was about to say to you that you had to admit they were the shit though?

DJ Quik - They was fucking out of here man.

thaFormula.com - In your mind, when do you think that the beef escalated to a very serious level?

DJ Quik - I'm glad that shit was ten years ago.  It was just like you know, I wanted to squash even the whole time.  But maybe I was wrong.  Sometimes when you get older you start to see things different.  I would say one thing and then my homies would pump me up and I would be ready to ride.  Then I would be by myself and be like that's not really what I want.  I want peace with this dude, then people would be like, no you can't have that nigga, you gotta ride.  So I met him one day and I was like, can we squash this shit.  He said yeah and I tried to call him and the number was disconnected, and he put out a record and he dissed me and then I felt like I wanted to cry again.  

thaFormula.com - Is that was made you do the track "Dollaz N' Sense?

DJ Quik - Yeah. But it wasn't just him.  It was other people I had in my camp that will remain nameless.  Some guy, I helped him buy a car and he didn't pay the payments no more and he ended up getting beat up on my DVD.  Anyway, there was alot of negative things going on then.  The whole L.A. gang scene was just bubblin' and alive.  If you didn't walk right or act right or look right or wore the wrong thing, you got your head shot off.  Just pure anger and I was feeding off of the pure anger because I was totally negative.

thaFormula.com - When did you realize that it was time to squash it?

DJ Quik - I never did.  I never realized that you got to turn this shit off because this shit is gonna bother you.  It's low level energy and it's just gonna eat you away because it's anger and it's gonna make your face fucked up and it's gonna make you stress out.  So with all that said, I had to come to grips with myself.  Plus I started having personal tragedies in my own life.  My best friend's getting killed.  People I work with one day being here and then the next day I'm supposed to go link up with them and they ain't there because they got killed last night.  That shit makes you realize that you might be a part of it or that you might be starting it.

thaFormula.com - Did you ever get a chance to hear the "DJ Quik Beatdown" skit from Tim Dog & did you ever run into Tim?

DJ Quik - Yeah I heard it.  We ran into Tim Dog one time in Miami.  But my thing is, I didn't take him to seriously because the skit was corny.  He didn't realize that he just gave me alot of attention and we sold a million records plus.  How many did he sell?  I ran into him again later.  He was at my studio recording and he was real cool and I was grown up at that time.  This was probably 1997 that I ran into him and it was all peace.  I looked at his thing as more of a marketing thing, but with MC Eiht and us it was personal, because we kind of knew each other a little bit.  I'm just glad that shit is over because I lost a little sleep behind that shit.  That shit is stressful.

thaFormula.com - I believe it because you and Eiht were going hard at each other for a minute man...

DJ Quik - We were mad.  We was driving around mad and I only wanted to kick it with people that agreed with me.  Like, should I fuck that nigga up? "yeah."  I should fuck that nigga up huh? "yeah."  What if he fucks me up? "I don't know."  Just hanging out with dummies man.  The dudes in the back sometimes keep the beef going more then the two figure heads.

thaFormula.com - I always say that the artists entourage is the cancer of hip-hop...

DJ Quik - Yep, the hangers on.

thaFormula.com - What was the reason behind you coming out with the new single and speaking on the East and the South like you did.

DJ Quik - Just from word of mouth and listening to people talk about things.  So my thing was, I took some dark minded music and put the negativity from word on the streets & from shit I heard people talk about behind other peoples back.  Not that I did it.  I was just being a character.  I was being DJ Quik, listening to people and being influenced by how people talk about other people, and that record really describes how people was feeling about people.  That record should have hurt peoples feelings because that record really hurt my feelings.  Me and Nate Dogg weren't above dissin' the West Coast in that record.  It wasn't that we was dissin' it but that's how the East Coast people talk about us.  That's how southerners talks about us.  We were expressing how hate can be so volatile to the point that it could destroy the gentle fiber that hip-hop and the hip-hop culture is built on.

thaFormula.com - Now what exactly went down at the 2000 Source awards for those that don't know Quik?

DJ Quik - This guy rushed Hi-C and got into it with him and I didn't have no security with me either, which I should have.  If I would have had security this wouldn't have happened.  But I tried to break up the fight with my nephew, who jumped the dude, who jumped Hi-C.  This dude always gets beat up wherever he goes, it's like it's normal to him.  He just came up there to start some shit and he did and it all fell back on me.  It looked like I started it, when I was just trying to stop it.  The police approached me and I told them don't put your hands on me, this is the dude that started the shit.  I'm like, we will squash this shit and talk about this shit later.  They was like fuck you, come here and they just started grabbing on me.   I just wouldn't let them throw me on the ground.  I couldn't let them throw me down on the ground because I wasn't wrong.  I rather for them to have shot me in my muthafucking head and blew my brains out right their on the crowd, then for me to lay down and take one for the team when I wasn't wrong.  I'm just not that kind of dude dog and I can't live with that.  So I took the ass whoopin' and the shit was everywhere.  Every time I seen that shit, that shit made me feel bad.  So I sued the fucking police. It turned out great.

thaFormula.com - Did you ever get a chance to meet Biggie?

DJ Quik - I met Biggie a few times.  I even performed in front of him at the Source Awards when 2Pac was in jail.

thaFormula.com - Did you ever get a chance to work with him at all?

DJ Quik - I wasn't that open minded with the beats back then, because dude was such a great rhymer that I probably couldn't get open enough to compliment that dude.  

thaFormula.com - Do you wish you could have worked with him?

DJ Quik - No , I think it's great the way it happened because it's perfect.  His legacy lives on forever.  That dude was seriously tight.  To me one of the best club gangsta rappers ever for club music.  He may be number 1 when it comes to club gangsta rap and I'll give him that.

thaFormula.com - Your tribute to Roger was a very dope track and it seems like you learned alot from him.  Did you?

DJ Quik - I learned from Roger how to be a showman.  Not working the talk box or music because he was so musically advanced that you can't really learn that shit.  Only he could learn that shit and that's why he was unique.  He could even teach that shit to his kids.  They could even learn shit and just know it because they taught it to him, and I don't mean to limit his kids but he was a musical motor all the time.  He was just an engine that churned out melodies and I learned from him how to be a showman, how to look good on stage and how to move a crowd.

thaFormula.com - You and Raphael Saadiq had some good chemistry together with the remixes you did.  Did you guys ever talk about maybe doing a project together?

DJ Quik - No we never talked about it.  There were alot of people playing in between that our families wouldn't let things gel the way they were supposed to gel.  When we came together, we always came together crooked as opposed to coming together in alignment and being straight.  We never got a chance to really crank nothing out. 

thaFormula.com - What happened with El Debarge and were you guys ever gonna work on an album?

DJ Quik - El Debarge did eventually do an album but it was gonna come out through the Priority system and I don't know what happened.

thaFormula.com - Did you do most of the beats on it?

DJ Quik - Nah, I didn't do alot.  I did a couple and helped him with it.

thaFormula.com - So you never planned to do an album for El?

DJ Quik - I would do an album for El right now.  It's just about what El wants.  If El wanted me to do an album on him, I would do an album on him in a New York minute.

thaFormula.com - What's your relationship with Suge nowadays?

DJ Quik - These days I haven't talked to Suge alot but I still give Suge respect.  First for being a business man.  Second, for being Suge.  I mean there is only one Suge.  He's infamous now.  Even though I don't necessarily agree with some of the directions and paths he took to get to where he is, you can't refute the fact that the man is just a great business man.

thaFormula.com - Were you ever close to signing with Death Row?

DJ Quik - Yeah, I wanted to be.  Profile wouldn't let me out of the contract.

thaFormula.com - Did you do alot of work for Death Row that you didn't get credit for?

DJ Quik - Not really.  I think we ended up getting it all straight, but you know I helped with the 2Pac "All Eyez On Me" a whole lot.

thaFormula.com - Was that the first time that you connected with 2Pac?

DJ Quik - Nah, I did dates with 2Pac back in the day when he was dancing for Shock G and Digital Underground.

thaFormula.com - How was it in the studio with Pac and what do you remember the most about your work in the studio together?

DJ Quik - I know that he respected me because I was older and then after we worked together I think he respected me because of me, David Blake.  I showed him a couple of things that he probably didn't know, but that I made apparent to him.  He accepted what I had to show him and I accepted what he had to show me.  What he showed me was a tenacity that I could probably never have as a rapper when it comes to microphones and getting off your chest what's on it.  The muthafuckin' boy could write probably 5 songs a day and I'm not exaggerating.  This muthafucker was incredibly crazy when it came to raw literature.

thaFormula.com - Was there anything that you guys worked on that never made it out?

DJ Quik - Nah, I think everything that we did ended up coming out.

thaFormula.com - When you dissed the Source magazine on the PPC track "PS Phuck U 2", did you know what the repercussions might be from doing that?

DJ Quik - No, I didn't know that they was gonna hold my career back.  

thaFormula.com - Do you regret doing that?

DJ Quik - If it was then, I would probably do the same thing because I felt that I deserved some respect for going through the shit that I went through especially with the gang shit all over the nation.  Not just here in L.A. But you know shit that when muthafuckas move out of here, and go start a little gang sector somewhere and then we walk right into ambushes and shit.  But now I would have approached it different if they disrespected me and continued to buffoon me like they were doing back then.

thaFormula.com - So do you feel that they did hold your career back alot?

DJ Quik - Not the Source per se, but probably the stigma that was surrounding me as a result of my beef with the Source even way back then. 

thaFormula.com - Did you diss them before you got the cover of the Source or after?

DJ Quik - They actually dissed me in that article.  They said something that wasn't cool.  They made up their story about me leaving Jheri-Curl juice on my door knob and they couldn't get into my house.  It was a joke and that's actually funny, but the truth is I didn't even have a curl, I had a perm so there was no juice.  Perms are dry you know what I'm saying. 

thaFormula.com - So what exactly are you doing at Warner Records now Quik?

DJ Quik - I'm doing A&R right now.  Just trying to help get them some good R&B, Hip-Hop, and cool new urban shit signed.

thaFormula.com - So your not actually coming back with an album or are you?

DJ Quik - Yeah, I'm recording it right now.  It's fucking dope to.  It's fucking out of here.  I got Game on it.  We did that in New York.  See that's the difference.  If you can't beat them, join them until you can arrange to have them beat.  We went to New York and just started doing records and catching that energy.  There is probably no better place to record records then New York City.

thaFormula.com - You have worked with Eazy, Roger, 2Pac, & Mausberg.  You seem to have this thing where you worked with some legendary artists that have passed away.  Do you feel that you were lucky to have worked with them?

DJ Quik - No.  I feel that I'm gonna die just like them at some point and it's probably as a result of the energy that brought us all together for the periods of time that we did work together and the circumstances.  I'm being real deep with you right now.  I hope I wasn't a jinx on them because I was really trying to keep my energy as good as I could, but now it takes no effort.  I'll just continue to be the dude that got me here.  I lived through alot and I learned alot and I wish they were alive today to see the new me.

thaFormula.com - Yeah cause on your first 3 albums you were on that real gangsta shit?

DJ Quik - Yeah cause we were real gangsta rappers.  See some people were rappin' gangsta, but we were real gangsta rappers because we thought that that was what you were supposed to be and I think we did it wrong.

thaFormula.com - Maybe, but that was some great material?

DJ Quik - Thank You man.  There was so much anger in that shit though and so much turmoil and negativity and death.  It was just a gang of bad energy man.

thaFormula.com - In my eyes that was without a doubt your greatest material?

DJ Quik - Well that kind of stress makes great music.

thaFormula.com - How did the Beat getting rid of Theo and Julio G's West Side Radio affect West Coast hip hop?

DJ Quik - I think that if we couldn't get supported in our own backyard, if we were losing our biggest outlet, then it was only a matter of time before the rest of the world started to not take notice anymore.  We lost some real big sponsors and if you remember it started the demise of popularity.  There were only certain people that could still hold on.  But I will tell you this and this is my honest opinion.  I think West Coast rap died a few years ago because Biggie and Pac died on the West Coast.  That's it and it's real hard to shake that stigma.  It's real hard to shake that whole memory.  People will never lose that.  It's like a visual tattoo embedded in the eyeballs and in the fucking minds of all of the people that still get a lump in they throat when they hear a Biggie record or a 2Pac record.

thaFormula.com - But no one in the West will really admit what you just said?

DJ Quik - That means that they got a problem with the mirror.  They need to stop looking in the mirror and just start taking pictures of themselves and looking at the pictures.  You see it more vivid.  That's the reality of it and that's where I'll leave it, and I said and I'll repeat it.

thaFormula.com - No doubt and before we end this I got to be real with  you and tell you that many people out there feel like you are starting to sound like your average producer?

DJ Quik - Serious.

thaFormula.com - Yeah, they feel like you are way more talented then the work you been putting out recently?

DJ Quik - They say that I'm starting to sound like it now? 

thaFormula.com - Yeah.  Alot of people felt that you started sounding like that when you dropped "Under The Influence."  I mean they liked the album but alot of people were like yo Quik is...

DJ Quik - He's slippin', he's fallin' off.  I heard that too.

thaFormula.com - But I never really blamed you for that album man because when I was at Bungalo I understood...

DJ Quik - That's why the album came out like that.  I was surrounded with all the wrong people and I wasn't motivated to do music as much as I was motivated to stay alive in a criminal element. 

thaFormula.com - Yeah I knew something was up when I heard that southern bounce track on your album.  I mean it was a cool track and all, but that was not the Quik that always came original on every album before that.

DJ Quik - I know.  I will put it to you like this though.  There are no bounce tracks on the new album.  I did that bounce track because I was even giving up on West Coast rap cause I saw it not selling anymore and I was trying to impress another crowd.  Because my backyard gave up on me and once you lose the backyard it's like fuck it, let me go somewhere else and get comfortable.  I'm gonna share this with you to since we come from the same place.  This new record was recorded mostly in New York City because I didn't want no one's sound.  I didn't want a West Coast sound, I didn't want a East Coast sound, I didn't want a Crunk sound, and didn't wanna bite nobody's shit.  I just wanted to get to New York and get that fucking energy because there is still a vibe there.  So when you hear this record, your gonna be FUCKED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!

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