For over 30 years, DJ Quik has enjoyed an incredible career. The Compton, California MC/producer/DJ has released great albums including Safe + Sound and Balance & Options, while producing for Tupac, JAY-Z, Suga Free, and Snoop Dogg.
However, it has been nearly six years since Quik released a full-length project. In April of 2017, he and fellow Hub City native Problem partnered for Rosecrans. However, since then, the hit-maker has laid lower than usually, popping up in interviews and some noteworthy social media antics.
AMG Breaks Down How DJ Quik, 2nd II None & Hi-C All Cliqued Up (Video)
In an interview with Rock The Bells‘ Kyle Eustice, DJ Quik admits that he has contemplated retirement in recent years. “After The Midnight Life [in 2014], I was pretty much whatever, you know, just tripping off the way the industry was changing so fast,” Quik said. In late 2013, he had previously said he retired from production. That hiatus lasted briefly. “I’m by myself, so it was just tough to navigate that sh*t. So I was like, ‘Alright, this will do it.’ I didn’t announce any retirement or nothing. I just stopped doing records. Like, f*ck it. I focused on the tour, just focused on doing live shows. I had no plans at all until the pandemic, then I had too much free time on my hands, and I was going stir crazy. So I booked the studio and just started shedding stuff out.”
Today (March 31), David Blake shows some of the music that he’s made during the pandemic. He releases his first single, “Class.” In the song, the West Coast veteran raps, “Bounce it, drop it, roll it round,” before, “Still make bangers, but I don’t bang. Sometimes rhyme, then I sing.” The song is built around an Impressions sample, that Quik reportedly cleared with surviving member Leroy Hutson. The song also features some deft scratching from the triple threat technician.
A press release confirms that “Class” kicks off a campaign for Quik’s tenth album, which is due to arrive this summer.
DJ Quik has announced a series of confirmed dates for the Cali Classic Tour. These will also feature Mack 10, Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound, Suga Free, Amanda Perez, and Kid Frost.
April 15 – Odessa, TX – Ector Theater
April 29 – El Paso, TX – Ceasar Chavez Theater
May 12 – Tacoma, WA – Temple Theater
May 13 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
May 26 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
May 27 – Spokane WA – Knitting Factory
June 10 – Beverly Hills, CA – Saban Theater
July 28 – Montclair, CA – Canyon
July 29 – Oxnard, CA – PAC
July 30 – Santa Maria, CA – Elks Event Center
