Legendary West Coast hip hop rapper and producer, DJ Quik has built a career on adding his signature, smooth G-funk sound to a myriad of projects by a number of artists. His artistry displays a deftness respected by his contemporaries and newcomers as he has racked up a long list of production credits over 30 years in the game.
It seems however that the list is missing a few entries. The Compton emcee hopped on Instagram Live on Thursday to show a royalty check he received from his former label, Death Row Records. “I’m not so happy,” he states as he shows the check just before laying it on a barbecue grill and sparking a lighter to it.
“I’m real offended by this Death Row check and this amount. As much work as I did for these sons of bitches, I feel the respect factor is crazy. There is none. So to show you how much your money means to me, Mr. Death Row Records — all the 2Pac stuff I did, help with Tha Dogg Pound project. Devil, you are a bitch. I want my real money and I want all my credits for everything that I did in this industry.
The check begins to burn as he continues his rant about numerous hit records he allegedly worked on but was not credited for. “All the songs, including ‘Hot In Here’ by Nelly and Pharrell. I want my credit for being ‘Get Nekkid.’ I want my credit from Kendrick Lamar — and this is no disrespect to Kendrick Lamar, I love TDE, you guys are awesome — but the fact y’all left my credit off ‘King Kunta’ [To Pimp A Butterfly] was crazy” continues Quik.
“R. Kelly ‘Home Alone,’ that’s 100 percent all of my drum sounds, my music, and me playing percussion,” he says. “I want that too. All Eyez On Me, it’s my credit, I want that. ‘In Da Club,’ ‘If I Can’t,’ I helped with those records by 50 Cent. I want that too. I want all my credits. I’m starting to get to a point where I’m impatient and I feel disrespected. I’m not going to be the underdog of this music industry anymore. I am to be respected as a king and a lord that I am, a God when it comes to production. I need all of my fucking credits.”
Da Quiksta was actually signed to Suge Knight’s Funky Enough Records prior to signing to Profile Records in 1990, which he regretted due to learning about major interest from Easy E and Ruthless Records. He eventually released his platinum selling debut album, “Quik Is The Name” in 1991 to begin his prolific career, with credits including AMG, 2nd II None, HI-C, 2Pac and Snoop Dogg among so many others.
While mentioning many artists, he mostly focuses on Death Row. “I took death chances over there. I could have been killed being at that record company. I need all of my fucking credit. Give me my shit while I’m alive. Give me my roses when I can smell them.”
He been one of the most under appreciated artist for a looooong time.