By Odeisel
Some things are much better together than they are apart. Ike and Tina, peanut butter and jelly, franks and beans, and spaghetti and meatballs come to mind. But in Hip-Hop, beats and rhymes are inseparable when it comes to creating great albums. We don’t always get that as many great emcees have had careers sidetracked by weak production while some producers have tried to make albums with subpar rappers manning the mic.
Over the last 20 years, there arguably hasn’t been a producer in Hip-Hop as musically talented and capable as DJ Quik. Dre changed the landscape musically with his funk laden samples (shout to Eric Sermon for doing it first) but only DJ Quik was able to create funk. He was also very capable on the mic. In 2009, we find DJ Quik partnering with one of the fiercest rappers from that era, fellow ex-Death Row inmate Kurupt for the BlaQKout album.
This is a decidedly LA sounding album, built for riding on highways with the top down. There aren’t any of those cliché’d sound effects and rhythms that permeated those mid 90s albums but you can hear the West Coast in it. It’s a sound you don’t miss until you hear it and it’s immediately funky and guitar driven illness.At this stage in their careers, it’s probably the perfect time for them to get together as Quik’s smooth flow is a perfect cruise mode to Kurupt’s high-powered rhyme schemes.
The songs are generally well-arranged and relatively devoid of samples. Kurupt and Quik don’t sound out of time despite repeated DPG references. As a whole there are many dope grooves on here that reference that early 80s late 70s post-disco techno-funk period in LA but without the Zodiac chains and Jheri curls.
With song titles like “Cream N Ya Panties,” you know that there will be a certain level of machismo on this but the musicality balances it out as Quik lets you know how far back his musical resume goes while telling the honies in the club that they need to get with him. “Hey Playa!(Moroccan Blues”) is a slow simmering groove with a meh chorus, but Kurupt’s first verse features a very dope rhyme patterns that flips all over the melody and abandons the a/b scheme that cripples the creativity of most punchline rappers. It’s a much more mature Kurupt, with a little less fire than youth but with much more precision. Another example of Kurupt’s alternative flow is the off-kilter “9x’s Outta 10.” There simply aren’t that many mainstream lyricists alive that venture that far from creating within the boundaries of sixteen bar schemes.
“The Appeal” features DJ Quik at his MC best, sounding assertive and confident, weaving in and out of his production like a skier on slalom. The bassline is mean and the synths and guitars complete the melody in a way that exhibits Quik’s musical gifts. This and most of the production on this album clearly separate the musicianship of DJ Quik from the beat making of others. “Do You know” is another highlight on this compact work
Missteps are the faux island riddim of “Exodus.” The first few measures of the song are below pedestrian and borderline vomit inducing, featuring what sounds like Kurupt with a fake island accent over 70’s lounge music. This should have remained on the cutting room floor. It reminds you of those house tracks that used to be on everyone’s albums…for no reason. Another fail is the electro-rock sound of “Jupiter’s Critic and the Mind of Mars.” It sounds like Arabian Prince on dust listening to Electric Circus. Vomit inducing. Also the annoying soliloquy skit that is “Problem: The B Stands for Beautiful” is pointless and unnecessary.
In all this is not a bad album. Especially if you’re in a car or you’re on a chill out mission. It’s not something you can listen to all the time, but it’s serviceable in a crunch. The themes are very limited but you don’t listen to this kind of music for world peace, you listen for the beats and the rhymes. BlaQKout has that in abundance. It ain’t quite peanut butter and jelly, but it definitely ain’t chicken noodle soup and soda.
Out of 5
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