DJ Quik recently appeared on Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes’ ‘All The Smoke’ podcast and spoke candidly about being signed to Death Row Records. The producer and rapper was already immersed in the music industry before making his way to the legendary imprint that once housed Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Tha Dogg Pound, and more all at the same time. The show hosts asked Quik to speak on what life was like during his time on the label, which found the producer reflecting on the tremendous and not-so-fun times.
During one portion of the interview, Quik said, “Sometimes it was cool, and then it just became the streets. All the stuff that I got away from, all the gang-banging and all that, just met me right there head-on at the office. It was hood s**t. And you had to kind of be hood to deal with it because they were in there – them n***as was detecting fear.”
Quik’s time on the label found him working with many artists, including Tupac. However, the producer said the atmosphere to create was sometimes hindered by the energy being pushed forward at the label’s headquarters. “They just wanted to see if you were scared. Make you feel some kind of way. It’s like, that energy doesn’t go with making the right songs. Songwriting is a beautiful process, you know what I mean? And it’s a lot of thought involved. You got guys in here gang-banging and s**t and threatening you and saying crazy s**t.,” said Quik.
At one point, Quik spoke about Suge Knight, saying, “You know, you never wanted to get on nobody bad side. It was like just walking on eggshells all the time. A bunch of anxiety, a bunch of nervousness. A bunch of people in there playing like they tough just so they don’t get punked. That wasn’t it.” He then gave his thoughts on the fall of Suge and the label, saying, “But it just seemed like Suge just got – he just went left on everybody, bro. Threatening n***as, punching n***as, beating up n***as. Like I didn’t come here to be no punching bag, y’all.” Watch above.
source: All The Smoke
