DJ Quik is the least heralded figure in Compton's holy trinity of rap: Eazy-E made a name on sheer force of will, while Dr. Dre let bombing sonics cement his now-unshakeable rep. But Quik is an enduring figure for subtler reasons. Spinning records and making hype beat tapes when he was all of 14 years old, Quik found ways to mix the languid funk and squeegee electronics of Zapp and George Clinton with a gangsta aesthetic. Though David Blake, who dropped the "C" from his DJ name as a pointed shot at his Tree Top Bloods' rival gang the Crips, dabbled in criminal posturing, he also had a weak spot for party jams. This is clear on Born and Raised in Compton, the third greatest hits release for Quik in the past five years, as well as the most consistent example of his strengths.
While Quik's squeaky tone resembles Eazy's shrill chirp, he's always been a slicker, sharper MC. On a number of tracks here he flashes narrative grace as well as fist-pumping braggadocio. The bottom-bass beat and sleigh bells-laced song "Jus Lyke Compton" did both and it delivered an odd tale of unity at a time when the media-fueled East Coast vs. West Coast war raged. On the track, from 1992's Way 2 Fonky, Quik notices while on tour that relatively rap scene-less cities like St. Louis and San Antonio bear a resemblance to his hometown. About Oakland he says, "We did a show up in Oak-land/ And niggaz was kickin' up sand/ To them bangin' ain't nothin' new/ And slangin' ain't nothin' new/ And for every nigga we done shot/ They done shot two." By conflating regional similarities with biting, he displayed an arrogance that offended few. But there weren't too many hip-hop shout-outs to Denver at this point, so who could really be mad?
The Roger Troutman-inspired "Tonite", one of Quik's biggest hits, was thuggish and scandalous but his tone is inviting, a stark contrast to N.W.A.'s. Unafraid of r&b, collaboration, or self-deprecation, Quik-- though gang-affiliated and from one of the worst ghettos in the U.S.-- set himself apart from an increasingly rote pack by doing more than nihilistic hedonism: Even the stomping "Dollaz + Sense", a piercing shot at fellow Compton rapper MC Eiht, has a danceable hook and some bars about conciliation.
Born and Raised speaks only to Quik's impressive solo career, featuring music up until 2000's uneven Balance & Options; there's nothing here from his wide-ranging production career, for obvious label reasons. His genial West Coast style extended to artists as diverse as Whitney Houston, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson without abandoning local talents (and oftentimes friends) like 2nd II None, AMG, and Suga Free. Quik's best-known work had an immediately recognizable vibe-- heavy on cuts, wobbly keys and funk bass. This has sometimes been a disadvantage for him (see his contribution to Jay-Z's Black Album, the treacly "Justify My Thug"), but makes for a rocksteady hits collection.
Quik is currently incarcerated for a five-month bid on charges of assaulting his sister last year, and he hasn't charted a solo song on Billboard's Top 100 in more than a decade. But Quik released an overlooked album, Trauma, last year independently on his Mad Science label and dropped a live album this year, too. Though he isn't the presence he once was on the ailing West Coast scene, Born and Raised in Compton is as strong an indictment of the fallacious coast-labeling of the early 1990s as any album of the era.
