DJ Quik Biography

DJ Quik Biography

While practically still a teenager, Quik began his rap career at the dawn of the '90s in Compton, CA, where he was born and raised alongside Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Eiht, Above the Law, and numerous other Los Angeles rap artists. Like many of these peers, he recorded for Priority Records. His debut, Quik Is the Name (1991), launched his career well, spawning two sizable hit singles: "Born and Raised in Compton" and "Tonight." The two songs charted Top 20 on Billboard's R&B chart, the latter even charting pop. The hits drove his album into the Top Ten on the album chart and Quik suddenly rose to the top of the rap industry at a very young age.

By the late-'90s though, when gangsta rap fell out of favor and Quik's albums began to sound increasingly predictable, many tagged the artist as a has-been, something that had happened to most early-'90s gangsta rappers. Rather than retire, Quik turned to production and reclaimed some of the glory he had experienced in the early '90s. He produced songs for such artists as Kurupt ("Can't Go Wrong"), Xzibit ("Sorry I'm Away So Much"), Eightball & MJG ("Buck Bounce"), and Truth Hurts ("Addictive"), with several songs being sizable hits.