DJ QUIK & KURUPT Unite for The Blaqkout LP ~ June 9, 2009 (Mad Science Recordings/Fontana/Universal)
THE BLAQKOUT LP
Multi-platinum producer & recording artist DJ Quik, and Dogg Pound affiliate & gangster rapper extraordinaire Kurupt are two of the best-known West Coast representatives in Rap & Hip Hop, period. The pair have teamed up to create a cutting-edge sound on Blaqkout, a full-length collaboration album conceptualized during Snoop Dogg’s Ego Trippin’ recording sessions and masterminded by DJ Quik.
“Kurupt does in rap what I do in music,” DJ Quik says. “It just made sense. Kurupt is a gangster rapper in the sense of being raw, bare-bones and uncut. I wanted to do music that evoked certain feelings and could show his microphone superiority.”
A prime example of the duo’s explosive chemistry is “9 Times Out Of 10.” Over a heavy drum assemblage, Kurupt freaks an intricate rhyme pattern about the likelihood of things happening over and over again. “Blaqkout,” is a masterful musical moment where Kurupt’s brutal lyricism matches Quik’s energetic creation. The “Blaqkout” cut is the epitome of Southern Cali rider music that brings a Sunday on Crenshaw Blvd. vibe to mind.
But the track “Hey Playa” (Moroccan Blues) is the gem in Quik’s production crown – he found the sample & inspiration for this track while watching the Morocco episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on TV. It’s this type of sonic bliss that made the partnership between DJ Quik — a platinum solo artist and producer of Jay-Z, 2Pac, AMG and others — and Kurupt — the standout lyricist of Death Row Records, a double platinum member of Tha Dogg Pound and a ferocious freestyle MC — so significant.
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